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John Boehner: Strict spending caps needed now

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1:19 PM Tuesday, February 2, 2010

As middle-class families struggle to do more with less, it’s no surprise Americans are expressing growing concern as the majority in Washington continues to pile up red ink as far as the eye can see.

News from last week alone is enough to make one’s head spin. On Tuesday, the Congressional Budget Office released a report predicting that government spending will boost the federal budget deficit to $1.3 trillion in 2010, just one year after posting a staggering $1.4 trillion deficit in 2009 – the largest since World War II. And Thursday the Senate passed legislation to increase the nation’s debt limit $1.9 trillion to $14.3 trillion.

Economists across the country are warning that Washington Democrats’ unprecedented government spending binge, which grew non-defense spending by a combined 67 percent last year, could lead to currency shock, inflation and crippling interest rates. But it doesn’t take an advanced degree to realize that our current fiscal path is unsustainable. Next to unemployment, the debt and deficits are Americans’ top concern, according to a recent CNN poll.

In an attempt to address this in his State of the Union, President Obama announced a plan to “freeze” government domestic spending for three years to save an estimated $250 billion over 10 years. But perhaps most telling is what this “freeze” wouldn’t do. The projected $250 billion in savings from President Obama’s “spending freeze” would only reduce the $42 trillion in government spending proposed between 2011 and 2020 by a little more than one-half of 1 percent. Washington Democrats’ “stimulus,” trillion-dollar government takeover of health care, and new “jobs” bill would all be exempt from the president’s “freeze,” which wouldn’t even go into effect until next year. And the “freeze” would do nothing to rein in Washington Democrats’ bloated budget that will double the federal debt in five years and triple it in 10 years.

To give a little perspective, this “spending freeze” is like trying to use a garden hose to try and control a four-alarm fire, and even worse, deciding to let your home burn a few more hours before doing anything about it. It simply won’t get the job done.

If President Obama is serious about putting our fiscal house back in order, his response must match the seriousness of our rapidly deteriorating fiscal situation. That’s why I’ve urged him to call on Congress to immediately adopt strict budget caps that limit spending on an annual basis and make it clear he plans to enforce them. Establishing a binding budget cap on total government spending as a percentage of gross domestic product – the total value of all goods and services produced in the nation each year – would force Congress to sit down, go through the budget line-by-line, and make tough decisions just like families across the nation are doing every day.

Spending caps are just one of the common-sense solutions Republicans offered last year as part of an alternative budget that embraced fiscal discipline and smaller government. To read more about our plan, go to www.gop.gov/solutions/budget.

The American people have had enough of the debt-fueled government spending spree, and they want Washington to stop piling more and more debt on the backs of our children and grandchildren.

As the president said in his State of the Union, “It’s time to try something now.” But we can’t just try anything; we must implement strategies tough enough to get the job done. Without spending caps, any “spending freeze” is destined to be a mirage.

U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp., represents Ohio’s 8th District.

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Where was Mr. Boehner during the last two administrations when the governement undertook the largest expansion since LBJ's Great Society program? The hypocracy is breathtaking.

John Cheatham
12:50 PM, 2/12/2010

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We needed MEN to step forward, that were elected to do a job for all citizens and America for many years instead of stepping backward and refusing to help all. Where have all the good men and women gone? Where's all the surplus of the Soc. Sec. money that both parties have mis-appropriated and spent on everything but it's intended purpose.

dd
8:50 PM, 2/4/2010

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I have not always concurred with Congressman Boehner as he worked with President Bush. I have even had disagreement with his office staff. I do, believe Congressman Boehner is a good man. Most certainly better than the progressives that will lead us into a controlled society where we would have less freedom than we can imagine. These Obama people work in the dark and are therefore evil in my opinion. To take over our healthcare industry is a corruption in itself! I say, "NO, Obama, NO!"

Victoria Detolve
6:02 AM, 2/4/2010

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Think again! Check the CBO and you will find that war is not the costliest item in the budget. Social security, Medicaid, & medicare cost 57 cents out of every tax dollar spent! Notice facts, they are all broke? Now you want to add 20% of the GNP? How will the governement save you, when millions of Americans are waiting in line to get social security benefits, only to be turned down time after time!? Can you honestly tell yourself that you will not be waiting in line for your medical coverage?

Steve M
6:08 PM, 2/3/2010

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I wasn't always happy with John Boehner's consistent support of Bush. I do, however, support Boehner over a weak conservative or a progressive that thinks big government is the answer. Obama, Rahm Emanuel have a trail out of Chicago that is frightening! I enjoy freedom too much to accept their falsehood.

Ray Peirsberg
1:14 PM, 2/3/2010

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