Taxes & Budget

Click here to read an introduction to this article by Bob Beauprez

The House of Representatives recently passed the first federal budget under the new Democrat leadership. Despite their campaign promises of fiscal restraint, the new Majority’s budget is the largest in history, weighing in at nearly $3 trillion. To put that in perspective, your Federal Government now spends over $23,000 per household. You’d think for $23,000 each year, your family might get more than a bridge in Alaska, wouldn’t you? In addition, the budget includes the single largest tax increase in American history. It has been estimated that over 115 million families across the United States will suffer an average increase of almost $1,800. American families are already taxed too much, and this budget only takes more money out of the pockets of hard working Americans.

I have heard from numerous residents of my district over the past several weeks about what this tax increase would mean to them. A mother wrote me saying that the tax increase would mean that she and her husband would have a hard time continuing to pay for radiation therapy for his prostate cancer. Another family said that this tax hike would be "the straw that breaks the camel’s back" and would mean that they would not be able to afford to pay their mortgage payments and would lose their home. In addition, numerous constituents told me that an increase in taxes means they will not be able to afford their children’s college education. Numbers as large as the ones in the budget can be hard to wrap your mind around, but when you look at how they will affect individual families, it becomes immediately apparent that this budget is entirely unacceptable.

In the last 10 years, almost every major Department of government has expanded faster than the rate inflation – thus much more rapidly than American families’ ability to pay for it. As a result, the express federal debt has grown from $5.8 trillion to $8.9 trillion in just 5 years. That doesn’t include government’s total unfunded liabilities, which are now over $40 trillion – primarily due to unsustainable growth of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. That amounts to more than $440,000 for every American family. That means that a little girl born today in Dallas automatically inherits a full mortgage as she takes her first breath.

Unfortunately, House Democrats looked at our $8.9 trillion debt and said now is the time to raise taxes on hard-working Americans. They believe we can tax our way out of debt, and their budget paves the way for massive tax increases. They are wrong. We don’t have an $8.9 trillion debt because Washington taxes too little; we have an $8.9 trillion debt because Washington spends too much, and it needs to stop.

Time is of the essence. A glimpse at America’s fiscal standing makes clear that the situation is due to get worse. Failure to act will mean that my son and my daughter will face a choice of two evils: having their tax burden be double that of their dad, or inheriting a federal government that will consist of almost nothing but Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security (no Army or Navy, no Veterans Administration and no Border Patrol).

Throughout the last year, campaign promise after campaign promise was made about a "serious commitment to fiscal responsibility." Instead, the new Democrat majority passed a budget that included no significant entitlement reform. The new Democrat majority had a chance to offer a budget that the American people can afford. They did not. The new Democrat majority had the chance to stand with the American taxpayer and pledge not to raise taxes. They did not.

The federal budget is about national priority making. Much like your family budget, sometimes spending decisions must be made, even if they are difficult. Congress has a choice: we can tell a story about putting our national responsibilities in order, and making the sacrifices today so that our children can achieve the American dream tomorrow. Or, we can tell a story about asking American families today to send even more money to Washington, so that a bureaucrat sitting in a Washington office can decide how best to provide for our children tomorrow.

It is wrong for Washington to spend more and more money each year. It is wrong for Washington to recklessly burden our children and grandchildren with a mortgage-sized share of the federal debt. These are not Republican issues or Democrat issues, they are American issues. The choices are clear, and it is incumbent upon every Representative in Washington to take responsibility for America’s future.