A Balanced Budget
Fiscal Responsibility Means Balancing the Budget
Our federal budget deficit for 2009 is expected to approach $500 billion. Washington’s failure to rein in wasteful spending has weakened the dollar and driven our national debt to more than $9 trillion. That’s more than $30,000 of debt for every man, woman, and child in the U.S.
In Congress, I will refuse to stand by and watch lawmakers continue mortgaging our nation’s future as the dollar plummets to new lows. I’ll fight to put an end to this fiscal insanity by working with like-minded Democrats and Republicans to balance our national checkbook and cut wasteful spending. I’ll fight to:
- Pass a Constitutional amendment mandating a balanced budget every year except in times of war or national emergency, and requiring a three-fifths super-majority on all votes to raise the debt limit.
- Enact statutory “pay-as-you-go” rules that will prevent Congress from spending money it doesn’t have.
- Bring transparency to the earmark process by requiring members of Congress to submit written justification for public review before any pet projects can be approved.
- Stop the runaway growth in spending by establishing strict spending caps that limit discretionary spending increases to 2.1% annually for the next three years.
- Hold federal agencies accountable by forcing them to improve their internal auditing procedures, and freezing the budget of any agency that fails to balance their books.
- Hold Congress accountable by requiring a roll call vote on all spending bills, requiring members to actually read spending bills before voting on them, and requiring honest cost estimates for every new bill.
