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1/6/2012

Balancing Our Budget Must Be A Priority

For the last several months, there has been a lot of discussion in Washington, D.C., and on the presidential campaign trail about our national debt and deficits.  In almost every speech in Congress and at town hall meetings, our national leaders talk about reigning in spending and lowering our debt. Republican presidential candidates understand the fiscal crisis facing our nation and are offering real solutions to balance the budget, while President Obama and Congressional Democrats are sitting idly by.

In the mid-1990’s, Congressional Republicans worked together to balance the budget and placed our nation on track to have record surpluses for years.  Those surpluses were intended to be payments on our monetary responsibilities and free our nation from foreign holders of that debt. Recently, however, leaders on both sides ran away with spending and began running massive deficits costing American taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.  When President Obama took office in 2009, those deficits soared even more.  In 2009 alone, a total of $1.9 trillion was added to the debt.  Last year, Congress added another $1.7 trillion. 

A couple of months ago, these deficits led to our national debt soaring past $15 trillion and it is now 100 percent equal to our country’s gross domestic product.  Needless to say, this level of debt is unsustainable.  Generations to come will be straddled with this enormous debt and it will continue to burden the needs of our nation.  Entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security will need to be improved in order to bring costs to the government down.  Right now, young Americans are paying into these systems with little-to-no chance of seeing any benefits.  It is a disgrace and disservice to them. 

Not only have Americans lost confidence in their government to work together to solve these problems, but so have credit agencies.  This past summer, Standard and Poor’s lowered the United States credit rating for the first time in our nation’s history.  Our largest foreign creditor, China, has serious concerns over whether or not we can ever repay the loans.  These are serious problems and they require leaders with serious solutions.

NH is fortunate to have strong leadership in Washington with Senator Kelly Ayotte and Representatives Charlie Bass and Frank Guinta.  They understand the importance of a balanced budget and reducing the deficit. Sadly, Democratic Members of Congress are misleading the American people with phony rhetoric about standing up for fiscal responsibility. Their campaign talking points might win applause, but their actions show a hypocritical record of more spending, bigger government and enormous debt. 

During the 111th Congress, 176 bills were introduced to begin curtailing our spending; however, an astonishing 2,480 bills were introduced to increase spending.  I do not think Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Washington Democrats are getting the message.  The United States cannot continue down this path of spending and expect our nation to remain the “shining city on the hill.” 

I applaud all of our Republican Presidential candidates for concentrating on the importance of a balanced budget, supporting policies geared towards accomplishing this goal and encourage President Obama and other Democratic leaders to follow suit and support sound fiscal policy.

Wayne MacDonald, N.H. GOP Chairman