McKinley: 'We need to stay focused'
News Article
By: J. Miles Layton
Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., is optimistic that there will be a deal reached to solve the nation's debt crisis.
"We still have a very good chance of doing that. We need to stay focused," McKinley said late last week as budget talks stalled.
McKinley said emotions are running high for both sides grappling to find a way to avoid a government shutdown and possible default on the nation's debt by the Aug. 2 deadline.
"I'm still hopeful," he said.
"I think people are starting to see the writing on the wall. The plans are starting in some ways to come together a little bit."
The argument boils down to this: Democrats want tax increases to raise revenue and Republicans want deep spending cuts. Both parties have plans to spread the pain, but neither party has budged much on its core convictions. Republicans' adamant refusal to raise taxes is as powerful as Democrats' vigilance against spending cuts for social programs.
While politicians trade barbs in the standoff, if the debt ceiling isn't raised the treasury won't be allowed to borrow new money to make up for the gap between revenue and spending.
McKinley said he thinks Congress will increase the debt ceiling.
"Yes, I do. It is just a question of when," he said.
McKinley said he wishes the tone in Washington, D.C., were different and that these issues weren't being fought through the media.
"Mistakes have been made," he said about partisan wrangling from both Democrats and Republicans. "I wish we could start again, but we can't. So I think at the end of the day, I think we are all covered with mud a little on this. I'm ashamed of that. I don't like that."
But the war rages on.
McKinley took aim at President Barack Obama's recent remarks about how a deal must be cut by the Aug. 2 deadline because an extension will not make things easier, especially as the 2012 election cycle draws closer.
Much like pulling off a Band-Aid all at once instead of bit by bit, Obama was seeking compromise sooner rather than later.
"... It's going to get harder," Obama said at the time. "So we might as well do it now; pull off the Band-Aid, eat our peas."
McKinley said he questions how Obama can lecture people when the Democratic majority in Congress made this mess by spending too much money during the past few years. He referenced the fact that Congress operated by what it calls a continuing resolution, which is a Band-Aid solution that made money available to keep the government operating.
"We've had a Congress in the last two or three years that was spending money irresponsibly, particularly last year when Congress operated without a budget," he said. "Think about that: there was no budget. They just spent the money. That's why it concerns me that the president will stand up now and talk about how we have to "eat our peas.'" McKinley blames Obama's failed policies, such as the trillion- dollar stimulus package. He said spending cuts are necessary. "We didn't cause the need for the stimulus," he said. "This was his ideologically-driven agenda to try and solve a problem that was based maybe on how they operate in Chicago or some of his economists -- I don't know. But no economists today are saying this was the best solution to our woes. This was not money well spent. So now we've got ourselves in a hole we've dug. We've got to quit digging the hole. We've got to quit spending."
McKinley said he understands that cuts to programs are never easy, but the nation needs to tighten its belt.
"I like to think that every dollar that is spent helps someone," he said. "I can concur with much of what the Democrats want, but the sheer reality is that right now for 2011 going into 2012, we are short $1.6 trillion. What are we going to do about it? So I think the argument has to be that we close some of the loopholes, but we're not going to raise taxes."
McKinley said a recession is not the time to increase anyone's tax burdens. McKinley has joined scores of his Republican colleagues who signed the Americans for Tax Reform's "Taxpayer Protection Pledge: No New Taxes."
"I'm not going to vote to raise taxes on people that make $200,000 to $250,000 or more a year. That ain't going to happen," said McKinley, who accused Democrats of engaging in class warfare with regard to raising taxes on the wealthy. "... In the real world, when is it appropriate to raise taxes in a soft economy? There's no historical evidence that you ever do it during this period. This is a desperation move on the part of the president and Democrats in Congress to try to make up for their spending habits over the last couple of years."
McKinley fired back at Obama for attempting to scare senior citizens about the potential of Social Security checks being withheld if a deal is not reached by Aug. 2.
The president said he "cannot guarantee that those checks go out on Aug. 3 if we haven't resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it."
McKinley said the Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse.
"I'm not going to allow him to take over control and start scaring seniors or anyone that they are not going to receive their check," he said. "That's irresponsible. That's just the type of politics that turns people off."
If Obama and congressional leaders cannot agree to a deal on the debt limit, there is a Plan B.
McKinley co-sponsored legislation last week that would prioritize the federal government's spending and prevent the country from defaulting on its obligations by stipulating which federal departments would continue to make payments while the debt ceiling agreement is being finalized.
The "Prioritize Spending Act" specifies that payments on the public debt, paychecks for military, and Social Security and Medicare benefits must be paid first. This would prevent the federal government from defaulting on those obligations.
McKinley said he supports a "cut, cap and balance" approach to federal spending. He opposes any raising of the debt ceiling until there are deficit-reducing spending cuts, enforceable caps on federal spending and congressional passage of a balanced budget amendment. This idea has gained traction in Congress.
"I think the concept of cut, cap and balance has a lot of merit," he said.
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