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Denny Rehbergs Guest Column for the Daily Interlake

Faster horses

Well-known member
(The Daily Interlake is a newpaper out of Kalispell, Mt.)

The Middle Ground Between Collapse & Shutdown: Spending Less

Guest Opinion by Denny Rehberg

Why are Montanans being told that they have only two choices: More government and record-deficits, or a complete government shutdown. The Montanans I’ve talked to at 77 listening sessions offer the third common-sense choice: The federal government can spend less.

And we’ve got to because our overspending is strangling economic recovery and destroying jobs. It’s putting the American Dream out of reach for our children and grandchildren. We face great challenges, but this is still America. We will overcome those challenges.

It’s a 704 mile drive across Montana on I-90 and I-94. Imagine those miles represented our national debt of $14,238,130,000,000. Each mile on the way is $20.2 billion borrowed from our children and grandchildren. Every foot across our state is $3.8 million of debt.

From the birth of our country through January 2007, the total federal deficit was about $8.6 trillion. On our road trip, this gets us from Lookout Pass on the Idaho border to about 20 miles west of Billings at a leisurely pace of about 2 miles per year. This part of the journey spans the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Great Depression, two World Wars, the Cold War, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and everything in between.

In January 2007, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi took the wheel with new majorities and a lead foot. They cranked the big-government throttle and our deficit accelerated from 2 miles a year to a mind-boggling 69 miles a year. With them at the wheel, we completed the second half of the trip through Billings all the way to North Dakota in just four short years. They nearly double our national debt.

The American taxpayer has been taken for a ride with their own money and in November, they told Washington to hit the brakes. But for some in Washington, that’s just not an option, they want to set the cruise control instead – freezing spending at the very highest levels of the last four years.

In the Senate, they’ve protected every single dollar of government spending. Not only did they reject the House proposal that included $100 billion in deficit reduction, they voted down their own alternative bill that contained a savings of just $4.7 billion. On our 704-mile journey across Montana, that’s about 1,000 feet – but it was still too much.

And while the Senate has failed to pass any legislation to fund the government for the remainder of the year – something they were supposed to have done last year – they stand on the bully pulpit and accuse Republicans of forcing a government shutdown. Oh, really? Republicans passed our year-long funding bill last February. Senate Democrats, after refusing to stop the car for gas are hoping to blame Republicans when the government engines stop running. Montanans are smarter than that.

The truth is, we can reduce federal spending without a government shutdown. True, it’s far easier to add a dollar to the budget than to cut one out. But our future depends on Congress doing that, not because it is easy but because it is right.

Yet, many Washington politicians continue to refuse all efforts to reduce federal spending. These politicians fought tooth and nail in favor of earmarks and voted against a balanced budget requirement in the Constitution. Like any addictive drug, once someone develops a spending habit, there are painful barriers to cutting back or stopping. That’s exactly what they are counting on.

Over the last two years they’ve spent trillions of your tax dollars pushing for more dependence. An addict has an incentive to keep the dealer in business: a vote on Election Day, a campaign contribution or even just a supportive letter to the editor in the local newspaper. Bigger government means more dependents which means more political support. This is what feudalism looks like in the 21st Century.

Montanans understand the federal government can’t fund every program and every priority. Money is not infinite. Montanans know that government needs to tighten its belt, just like families do. Balancing the budget doesn’t mean you oppose the things you cut. In fact, sometimes lifting the government yoke is better for them in the long run. Balancing the budget means assuming the responsibility of forward thinking policy. It means saying no today so our kids can say yes tomorrow.

And that’s exactly what I will keep fighting to do. Our children deserve a future free of crushing taxes. Imagine what they can achieve if freed from Washington’s debt burden. This is about restoring the American Dream
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
I believe the IMF's debt sustainability analysis for the US states that about $7 Trillion more can be handled before it's time to shut out the lights. At the current pace, that's about 4-5 years.

Both the current Dems. and the Repubs. are punting. The Tea Party freshman are making an attempt, but do not have enough clout, yet.

2012 will be the final kick at the can, IMO. Then the choice is even more drastic cuts or listen to the fat lady.
 
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