Congress Must Keep Its Word
Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen is credited with saying "a billion here, a billion there and pretty soon you are talking about real money." Although no one is quite sure where he said that. In today's Washington, we talk about trillions. A trillion is a number with 12 zeros behind it. It looks like this: 1,000,000,000,000.
It's easier to understand the problem with Washington's budget if you take out eight zeros. Put that way, Washington makes $23,000 every year, but spends $36,000. They have also racked up $150,000 on their credit card. We have a spending problem.
During the Debt Ceiling negotiations, Congress agreed to cut $1.2 trillion in spending over the next ten years. A Super Committee was formed to recommend where that should be done. However, if it failed, that would trigger an automatic $1.2 trillion in cuts spread across most departments. It did not include Social Security, Medicaid, Food Stamps or Veteran's Benefits.
I was hopeful that the so-called Super Committee would do be able to its job. However, they have announced that they could not come to an agreement. Now, some legislators in both parties would like to undo the trigger and spend more money.
I will not support that effort. We have a spending problem. While I agree that automatic cuts are not the best answer, it is what Congress agreed to. We have to get serious about reducing spending and Congress should keep its word.
Not only is Washington spending real money, it's our money.
Sincerely,
