The Tennessean Op-Ed: We Have Long-Term Priorities In Order

Op-Ed

For many years, lawmakers have struggled to explain sprawling budgets riddled with deceptive accounting that hid the truth about our debts, deficits and economic future. The President's budget we are debating today comes in the midst of news that the Social Security trust fund, in a worst case scenario, will only be able to provide roughly 75% of today's guaranteed benefits by 2037 and that the Medicare hospital trust fund will become insolvent by 2017. Without question, the challenges we face are tremendous.

One thing can be said of the President's budget: it is an honest outline that provides a full and complete picture of our nation's priorities, from the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to education, homeland security, and research in alternative and renewable energy. The budget accomplishes this without hiding the true costs of our conflicts overseas and without glossing over the shortfalls in our largest expenditures. This is something we haven't seen in the past several years.

As the first rural legislator from Tennessee on the House Appropriations Committee since Congressman Joe L. Evins in the mid-1970s, I believe I have the opportunity to ensure the necessary priorities in the 4th District and Tennessee are receiving the attention they deserve. As a result, I take very seriously the duty of managing taxpayer money.

Blue Dogs want cuts

Every budget proposal has its advocates and its detractors. It is impossible to agree with every item in the outline, whether it calls for a cut or increase in spending. However, there is one item for which a growing number of fiscally conservative Members have finally found a receptive ear in the White House. The growing ranks of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition have been voicing our concern over the last several years in order to bring attention to our growing budget deficits. The President has publicly supported a return to the pay-as-you-go budgeting of the 1990s, and the House-passed budget resolution mandates that Congress will have to enact new PAYGO rules before putting new spending into place.

After the passage of the Economic Recovery Package, I immediately called on our administration and my colleagues in the house to identify spending cuts for redundant or ineffective programs.

Right direction

Since then, we have taken a good step in the right direction. The President has identified $17 billion in cuts so far, and while critics mock that amount, it is a lot of money where I am from in Pall Mall, Tennessee. We must do more, but this is a start.

There is hardly a single program that does not have a constituency prepared to fight hard to preserve its funding. As we move forward with this budget and future spending, it will take tremendous courage on the part of Americans and our leaders in Washington to make bold and, at times, unpopular cuts in the federal government. My colleagues in the Blue Dog Coalition and I are prepared to stand with anyone, Democrat or Republican, that understands the need to protect our treasury and the taxpayers who fund our programs. In this tough economy, there is little more important.

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