2011 Budget Hidden in War Bill

The House recently passed and the Senate is considering a supplemental war funding bill. Of course, Congress is adding billions in extra spending for their favorite projects, which are in no way related to war funding. This unfortunately is only Washington politics as usual.

What is really offensive is a hidden provision that was added to the bill which states that if the war funding bill is passed that the 2011 budget will “be deemed as passed”. Congress is too cowardly to openly debate and vote on next year’s budget. They know it is larger than last year’s humongous budget. This budget includes over one and a half trillion dollars of deficit spending. Congress knows the public is concerned about their outrageous spending and borrowing. The American people want the government to cut spending and reduce the debt. Congress does not want to go on record as voting for this spending binge in an election year. Hence they seek to hide the budget in another bill.

The 2011 budget should not be slipped through in a hidden provision. It needs to be openly and fully debated. Congress’ votes need to be recorded. If you support the bill, you must be willing to say so. You are responsible for your votes. The American people are tired of dirty tricks and backdoor deals. We deserve better.

Most importantly do not use our military to sneak through more outrageous spending. Anyone who uses our military to pass a bloated budget should be ashamed. This would be Washington at its devious worst.

Signed,
The Electorate

National Debt: Debt Reduction Commission

It is encouraging that the federal government is beginning to realize that this country has a debt problem. However I believe that a Debt Reduction Commission is merely a ruse. It is the vehicle that will be used to justify tax increases. The President says he is agnostic about raising taxes. This is Harvard speak for he supports tax increases. During the campaign it was obvious that he could not finance his expensive, expansive agenda by only taxing “the rich”. The middle class will be expected to shoulder the burden too.

We can save the expense of a Debt Reduction Commission. Who doesn’t know that this country has a debt problem? There are only two ways to reduce our debt. We must spend less or tax more. This is not rocket science!

If taxes are raised during a recession, the economy will go into another tail spin. History also shows that if a government raises taxes, government revenue actually decreases. It would be counter productive to raise taxes.

The federal government really, really wants to implement its expensive, power expanding new programs. It must resist this compulsion. Pet projects can wait. The national debt is dragging down the country.

The government needs broad-based spending cuts. Waste and redundancies are rampant in the federal government. In the eighties the government had an independent study to cut costs without effecting performance. The study more than paid for itself.

PAYGO is a good baby step. It would be more significant if waivers were not offered for so many projected programs.

We don’t need a Debt Reduction Commission. We need some common sense in Washington. Cut the wasteful spending! Cut the pet pork projects! Eliminate all earmarks! Be responsible with taxpayer money.

Signed,
The Electorate

Proposed 2011 Budget

When addressing fiscal responsibility, the President talks a good game. Last week he said that this level of debt and spending is unsustainable. He promised tax relief for small businesses. He said he would freeze a very small portion of the national budget. That was last week.

This week he submits a 3.83 trillion dollar budget. This budget contains a 1.56 trillion dollar deficit. This deficit is even larger than last year’s deficit. The budget contains 2 trillion dollars of proposed tax increases. It does contain 20 billion – with a “B” – of spending cuts. How significant can these tiny cuts be? It is a bone being tossed to all those Americans protesting the out of control spending.

What this country needs are significant spending cuts. No new wildly expensive programs. This country needs significant broad-based tax cuts. Endeavoring to make more loans available to small businesses is laudable. Offering tax credits to small businesses that create new jobs is a step in the right direction. If all small businesses were given tax reductions without conditions attached, more business could expand and new jobs would be created. Do not forget tax cuts for large businesses. They create jobs in larger numbers. Do not forget tax cuts for individuals. They buy goods.

Taxes will increase for anyone making more than $200,000 a year. This includes many, many small businesses. With one hand the government proposes offering tax credits to small businesses that create new jobs. With the other hand the government proposes raising taxes on these same businesses. Does this even make sense?

This country does not want the government to pay lip-service to fiscal responsibility. We will judge the government by its deeds. Don’t just talk the talk; walk the walk.

We can not afford this level of debt. We can not afford this level of spending. We know that the government will seek to stuff this budget with thousands of pet pork projects. My advice is CUT the pork; CUT the spending; and REDUCE the national debt.

Signed,
The Electorate

National Debt

For the second consecutive month, Congress is seeking to raise the level of the national debt. The federal government has a spending addiction. This country is going to be forced into bankruptcy if Congress does not control the addiction. Irresponsible spending has got to stop!

The Administration is proposing freezing discretionary spending for three years. This would be more significant if last year this spending had not been raised twenty-four percent. The government proposes freezing spending at last year’s ridiculous level and this is supposed to be fiscal responsibility? Congress should propose cutting spending by ten percent for the next financial year and by another five percent in the following year. The current level of spending is unsustainable.

The Administration also suggested cutting 250 billion dollars from the budget over the next ten years. That is 25 billion dollars a year. It is a mere drop in the federal budget. It is as significant as if I said that I would cut my spending by a penny a week. Can we not get serious about the dangers of our national debt?

If Congress is truly concerned about the size of the national debt, it will cut discretionary spending, postpone new large spending projects, cut pork projects, and eliminate earmarks forever. Congress must stop trying to spend its way out of a recession. It has never been done. It is impossible! Excessive government spending will only prolong the recession. Look to history. All the spending FDR did in the thirties did not end the recession. The recession did not end until we became involved in World War II. We were the only country in the world during this era to have a “Great” depression. Everyone else had a depression. If you doubt this, check the unemployment numbers.

Ultimately, the debt can be lowered by economic growth. This can be accomplished if the government allows businesses to recover by implementing business friendly policies and by controlling governmental spending.

Signed,
The Electorate

Health Care: A Bad Bill

Only a few people know what’s exactly in the new proposed Senate health care bill, but there are some things we do know. The only positive thing we know is that preexisting exclusions are prohibited. Everything else we know is undesirable.

Medicare will be cut by about 500 billion dollars. This will cause rationing and lower quality care for seniors and fewer doctors who are willing to accept Medicare. Seniors will be drastically affected. The government will not deem them “cost effective”.

Taxes will be raised. About one-half the funding for this bill will come from new taxes, fees, and penalties. Raising taxes in a recession is beyond foolish.

This bill will cost almost one trillion dollars. Health insurance is extended to only about thirty million more people. Using simple mathematics this means that it will cost over thirty thousand dollars per person. Might I suggest that the government provide ten thousand dollars to each person and let them select their own insurance? This would dramatically reduce the cost of this bill.

Medicaid will be extended to include about 15 million more people. This is one-half of the new people covered. States pay about half of Medicaid costs. The states can not afford these new mandates. This means new taxes on the state level or drastic cuts in other state services.

Insurance premiums will cost more. If Medicare further reduces the rate of reimbursement to hospitals and doctors, the private sector will have to pick up the difference and pay more. There will be new taxes applied to insurance and this will cause premium costs to rise even more.

For the first time in our history citizens will be forced to purchase an item – even if they do not want to do so. Car insurance is not the same as this requirement. Driving is a privilege not a right and drivers are required to carry insurance to cover the damage to other drivers. If you do not buy health insurance you are subject to a fine. If you do not pay this fine you can be jailed.

The fine is so low that it is not a deterrent. A young healthy person would pay the fine and only purchase insurance if they were injured or became ill.

Many new government bureaucracies are created by this bill. Controls over private insurance would be great. Our choices would disappear. How is this an improvement of health care? It is government control of our health care by another name. We do not want the government to control our health care and our very lives. Stop this bill! Vote NO!

Signed,
The Electorate

The National Debt

The national debt ceiling is currently set at 12.1 trillion dollars. Congress is spending at such an alarming rate that they will soon exceed this limit. Congress now proposes raising the limit by 1.8 trillion dollars. This reckless spending has got to stop. The national debt is a stone around the neck of our economy and it is dragging us down. Stop spending money we do not have. Freeze or reduce discretionary spending. Do not pass new expensive programs. You are dooming this country and the future of our children. Be responsible or face defeat in your next election.

Adding insult to injury, Congress plans to attach this increase to the debt ceiling to a military funding bill. Congress plans to USE our servicemen and women so that they can waste more of our tax dollars. This is disgusting!

Signed,
The Electorate

Against Cap and Trade

American Solutions has a new commercial in the effort to stop the Cap and Trade bill that is being pushed through Congress.

The Markey-Waxman “Cap-and-trade” Energy Tax bill, in the current
form being considered by the House Energy and Commerce committee, would
have the following catastrophic effects by 2035:

1. Reduce aggregate gross domestic product (GDP) by $9.6 trillion annually;



2. Destroy 1,105,000 American jobs per year on average, with peak years seeing unemployment rise by over 2,479,000 jobs;



3. Raise electricity rates 90 percent after adjusting for inflation;



4. Raise inflation-adjusted gasoline prices by 74 percent;



5. Raise residential natural gas prices by 55 percent;



6. Raise an average family's annual energy bill by $1,500 annually; and



7. Increase inflation-adjusted federal debt by 26 percent, or $29,150 additional federal debt per person, again after adjusting for inflation.

Facts from: Heritage Foundation

If you want to donate to American Solutions to help get the ad on the air, click here.

Signed,

Daughter of the Electorate

Listen to the Congressional Budget Office

From a letter sent June 13, 2009.

To Congress,

The administration is now considering not using the facts and figures provided by the Congressional Budget Office. For almost 35 years the CBO has provided objective, nonpartisan analysis on the economic ramifications of pending legislation and their effect on the national debt. Apparently the administration no longer appreciates or agrees with the CBO's analysis. They like their own rosier estimates instead.

If the estimates of the nonpartisan CBO are ignored, then Congress will be basing its decisions on partisan inaccurate information. Good decisions can not be made using bad facts. Congress needs to make its decisions based on the honest estimates that are provided by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Signed,
The Electorate