Joe Wilson

President Obama and his Democrat allies in Congress have repeatedly said they intend to rein in Washington spending. Indeed, the President has spent a lot of time in news conferences trying to assure the American people he is fiscally responsible. Unfortunately, the numbers do not add up. Since the beginning of this year, President Obama and the Democrat Congress have passed well over $1 trillion in new deficit spending while proposing a budget plan that will create a $1.2 trillion deficit next year and will double the national debt in five years.

These numbers tell a far different story than what we hear from the Democrats and this Administration. This may explain why they refuse to hold a serious and open debate about their reckless spending. Last week, House Republicans offered multiple amendments to cut spending in the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill for the next fiscal year. This bill will increase spending for these government programs by nearly 12% over last year. But rather than hold a responsible debate, Democrats shut-down the process because they said there was not enough time to consider our reasonable spending cuts. They believed that there was not enough time to save the American taxpayers millions of dollars.

Well, I believe differently. I believe that, as Members of Congress, we have an obligation to be good stewards of your tax dollars. When we spend the money you have earned, we should do so with a respect for the hard work that went into earning those dollars. With families all across this country making tough choices, Washington ought to do the same. After all, fiscal responsibility does not mean you continue on an unsustainable course of reckless spending and then just make promises to do better. And, it does not mean you raise taxes in order to spend more. The $1.5 trillion in tax increases that have been proposed by this new administration and Democrats in Congress will place the burden of big government onto the backs of American taxpayers just as the debt they are accumulating will mortgage the future of our children.

We can do better, and we must do better. I am fighting in Washington to make those tough choices and to offer solutions that will mean smarter government not bigger government. There is always time to save taxpayers their hard earned money, and Congress should put a priority on restoring some fiscal sanity.