OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Requirement in Budget Submission with Respect to the Cost Per Taxpayer of the Deficit

Floor Speech

Date: March 5, 2013
Issues: Economy and Fiscal Government Budget and Spending

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Mr. STUTZMAN. Thank you to my friend from Indiana. This is, I believe, the fifth speaker from Indiana. Maybe we're getting something right in Indiana--I don't know what it is--but thank you for sharing this bill.

We do have a balanced budget in Indiana. We have made sure that we have taken care of the children in education, we've made sure that our law enforcement is taken care of, but we've also made those difficult choices early on that Washington could really learn from in budgeting.

So I appreciate Congressman Messer for bringing this particular bill. It's a good government bill.

And I know the other side of the aisle is talking about the sequester. I find it ironic that the Washington Times today has a headline that says 400 more jobs are created, in spite of the sequester. So I don't believe that the sky is falling here.

This legislation requires the President to do some simple math and include with his budget, should he choose to submit one, an estimate of the cost of the deficit per taxpayer. Taxpayers just simply deserve to know how much they owe for Washington's out-of-control spending. After all, every dime that the Federal Government borrows is saddled on this generation and the next generation and generations to follow.

Right now, the cost of Washington's $16 trillion of national debt totals more than $147,000 per taxpayer. In fact, approximately every minute, Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government borrows another $4 million per minute, leaving this generation empty promises and massive debt.

This is no way to run a government. If the President refuses to break the cycle of bailouts, borrowing, and tax hikes, taxpayers deserve to know the true cost of the President's irresponsible decisions. The American taxpayers deserve transparency, and that's exactly what this bill does.

Mr. Speaker, I applaud my colleague from Indiana, and I thank him for bringing this bill to the floor. I urge the support of all of my colleagues here in the House of Representatives.

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