Now's the Time to Address the Debt

Statement

Last month, the U.S. reached the debt ceiling, or in other words, the limit on how much the government can legally borrow. This is the fourth time we have reached the ceiling under President Obama and the 11th time in the last 10 years. Clearly, America has a spending problem.

To make matters worse, Debt as Percentage of GDPthe federal government will spend $3.8 trillion this year. For every dollar spent, more than 40 cents of that dollar will be borrowed. To put it in perspective, the Treasury Department has to borrow more than $4 billion every day. That's more than Idaho's annual budget.

This simply can't go on.

In the coming months there will be much debate about how we confront this serious situation. Some in Congress will say we should just raise the limit and continue with business as usual. Others will admit it's a problem, but say there is no other path forward. There is, however, something we can do. It's the same thing families do - create a plan to cut spending and then actually cut spending.

As I wrote in a recent editorial, such a spending plan should be bipartisan and wide-ranging. The president should take a leadership role in this plan, something he has not done.

The reality we face is to make the tough decisions today or wait for our creditors to make them for us tomorrow. We can do this, but the time for action is now.

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