South Carolina Radio Network - Tim Scott: Four Freshman Making Progress in Congress

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By Michael Brown

First District Congressman Tim Scott is among four freshman from South Carolina on Capitol Hill this year. He spoke with WLMA about his short time in office.

The four freshman, along with Congressman Joe Wilson, we are working in concert. We are forming the foundation of one South Carolina. What matters in the Upstate, matters to me. What matters in the Lowcountry matters to Jeff Duncan and Trey Gowdy. What matters in the Midlands matters to all of us on behalf of Joe Wilson. Our state is too small to be divided, so we are working together in concert.

Scott says the theme of "togetherness" is working.

I think we are making progress. We have no choice but to tackle spending. I have a formula, and the formula basically says when government spending goes up, American freedom goes down, and because of that, we have to tackle our spending first and then head towards tax reform that will revive our economy.

On January 26, Scott proposed a spending amendment in the House Rules Committee that asked for deeper spending cuts. The amendment, that was passed through the House with a 256-165 vote, instructed the Budget Committee to cut spending for the remainder of 2011 to pre-stimulus 2008 levels or less.

My whole goal is to focus the attention of our leadership and our budget guy, Paul Ryan, and not simply go back to the 2008 levels of spending, which is of course, when Nancy Pelosi was still Speaker of the House. But, we need to go beyond 2008. We need to get to a place where we are encouraging Americans to trust their government.

Scott says the key to economic growth for America is to stop giving away money that just isn't there, like he says the current administration did with the stimulus package.

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