Lame Duck

Statement

Dear Friend,

Federal lawmakers returned to Washington Tuesday to attend to a full docket of pending year-end business.

Following House Republican's organizational meetings, party leaders from both ends of the U.S. Capitol will close the week with a White House meeting today regarding our government's financial outlook.

America is teetering on the so-called fiscal cliff, a term used to describe a stack of expiring spending and revenue provisions. Last week, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) renewed its projection that this combination of significant tax hikes and sequestration cuts set to take effect early next year will push the economy back into a recession.

Congressional scorekeepers previously estimated that debt held by the public will hit 73 percent of GDP once the fiscal year 2012 numbers are calculated. This forecast comes as America's debt leaped past the $16 trillion mark and the government recorded its fourth consecutive trillion-dollar plus deficit.

Even worse, America's welfare and entitlement programs are going broke. CBO revealed that the majority of the nation's mandatory spending -- primarily composed of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security outlays -- is expected to account for 55 percent of all government spending by the end of the decade.

This illustration proves that as welfare rolls continue to grow, federal government receipts cannot maintain pace to function effectively. Acknowledging these truths, House Republicans have fought for economic policies that would reverse this negative trend.

God bless,

Gregg Harper

Member of Congress

Source