Fellow Idahoans,
A new year is well under way and, I dare say, this will be a critical year for our country. The Congressional Budget Office, the non-partisan number crunchers, noted that for the fourth consecutive year we will have a $1 trillion-plus deficit.
That means we will have spent $1 trillion more than we receive in revenue. This pushes our overall debt above the $15 trillion mark as we have added $4.61 trillion to our debt since January of 2009, the fastest growth of peacetime debt in our nation's history.
Our country cannot sustain this spending and Congress must do something to bring this enormous debt level down. At the same time, the American people will need to determine who will lead our country beginning next year.
As I said, it will be a critical year and the American people will have their say.