Issue Position: Federal Budget

Issue Position

Washington's failure to rein in government spending is hurting Georgia's economy. As our citizens watch in dismay and frustration, our political leaders in Washington fight political battles that don't help Georgians. Whether it is the annual federal budget or the debt ceiling, neither party is willing to make the tough decisions to put us on a sustainable path. Instead of focusing on the long-term needs of our nation, they play political games intended to score political points - not solve problems.

Georgia businesses need certainty and consistency to invest and expand, but Washington's erratic and crisis-driven budgeting process creates anxiety and uncertainty for Georgia entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, Congress refuses to sit down and deal with our government's spending and long-term debt. Congress should pass a budget on time, restore regular order, and stop playing political games with the debt limit. Only then will the private sector make the investments in people and capital to expand our economy and create meaningful job growth.

Washington needs to recognize that our national debt threatens future generations. We must solve it through a deliberative and thoughtful process. If we do nothing, we risk rising interest rates, increased cost of living, lower wages and slower job growth. And at some point, without making changes, we will run out of money to pay for Medicare and Social Security.

As we tackle the long-term fiscal challenges, we should ensure that we make targeted investments to grow our economy at a time of continued economic challenge and high unemployment. We need to undo sequestration, which makes cuts without strategic priorities and endangers necessary investments while preserving wasteful and inefficient programs. It is time to put the country back in the business of job growth and opportunity, creating opportunities that are central to the American dream: good jobs, strong schools, and safe and thriving communities.

If elected to the U.S. Senate, I would cut the deficit and the debt by applying the same values that I have learned by running a $30 million dollar organization. The same values Georgians use when they make decisions about investing, spending, and planning for the long-term. My grandparents and parents taught me the importance of being a good steward of the resources that we have so that they will be around for future generations to enjoy. As a mother of two children, I believe we need to secure the future for future generations, even if that means shared sacrifice today.

Our representatives in Washington seem to have lost sight of what it means to govern - to come together to create practical solutions. In a country as diverse as ours, the only way to govern effectively is to listen, learn and act together. These problems are solvable. And with the appropriate application of leadership, values, and purposeful choices, we can solve them.

Solutions Instead of Shutdowns

In the fall of 2013, Congress' inability to come together culminated in a 16 day shutdown of the government. As our citizens watched in dismay and frustration, politicians in Washington chose to score political points instead of govern and do their job.

Economists estimate the shutdown removed hundreds of millions of dollars from Georgia's economy. And it delayed millions of dollars in support for small businesses that couldn't get loans. Behind these dollar figures are real Georgians who were hurt by Congress' failure to come together. Business owners and farmers got squeezed because they couldn't get loans, 4,000 National Guard employees were sent home, and veterans worried that the benefits they earned wouldn't come.

And next year will see the second round of sequestration - which has already done serious damage to Georgia's economy and our nation's military readiness. Georgia was hit harder than all but four other states by the cuts to the Defense Department.

Our state also suffered when critical research and development funding was cut back from Georgia's universities, which support thousands of graduate students and provide essential workers for our high-tech industries.

We need to replace the arbitrary cuts of sequestration with targeted cuts that eliminate unnecessary programs and waste while preserving our ability to compete and keep our country safe.

Balancing Our Budget

Cutting Spending

To rein in spending, every government program must be evaluated before it is funded: Is it essential? Does it work? Is it redundant? Can the program be done better at another level of government or in the private sector? These hard questions must be asked of every discretionary federal expenditure. That means that Congress needs to do its job and go back to passing budgets and conducting aggressive oversight. Congress has an obligation to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being spent responsibly and programs that don't work must be ended or fixed before any more taxpayer dollars are spent.

Congress also needs to confront the issue of mandatory spending programs, including Social Security and Medicare, which take up approximately 60% of the budget. As a result of rising health care costs and the higher numbers of Baby Boomers reaching retirement age, Medicare spending alone is now 3.6% of our GDP and is projected to continue to rise. The trustees of the Medicare trust project that the hospital insurance portion of Medicare could be depleted by 2026; and Social Security will be forced to cut benefits by 23% in 2033 if nothing is done. We must undertake bipartisan entitlement reform to preserve Medicare and Social Security for those currently in or near retirement, take action to strengthen these programs for the future.

Pro-Growth Policies

The quickest way to balance the budget is to grow the economy. But right now our nation's economy is growing too slowly. Between 2008 and 2013, our economy grew by less than 1% a year. That's why we need pro-growth policies that include less government regulation, a simplified tax system, focused investment in infrastructure that promote business growth, and education reform that ensures that our children receive the education and training they need to be productive contributors to our economy.

And we need a government that works. Congress needs to get back to passing annual budgets and conducting rigorous oversight, instead of trying to score political points. Economists suggest that uncertainty since 2009 has lowered economic growth by 0.3% each year - costing our economy $150 billion and 900,000 jobs.

Fixing Our Broken Tax Code

I believe Georgia families are paying too much in taxes. Our tax code is too complicated and there are too many loopholes carved out for special interests that allow those who can afford high-priced accountants to get away without paying their fair share.

I applaud efforts to enact revenue-neutral tax reform, especially the idea of taking a "blank slate" approach to revising the tax code whereby we look long and hard at every tax expenditure and invite input from all Americans to build a code that is simple, fair and spurs economic growth.

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