A Radical Idea for Washington Lawmakers: Pay Your Bills
Jul 31, 20207.3K Shares305.5K Views
The House Budget Committee this morning heard testimony about the country’s financial mess. It’s hardly the first timelawmakers have heard the tale, but that’s different than saying they’ve done anything about it. Instead, we’ll probably see Congress blaming the Bush administration for increased deficits and its $700 billion (unpaid) war, while the White House spins the problem as one created by Congress, which votes to approve those deficits every year. In fact, both sides are right (or, rather, wrong), because neither branch has taken any serious steps to rein in federal spending — steps that would further harm the economy, which would be a dagger for lawmakers seeking reelection and presidents seeking a kind legacy.
But as House lawmakers heard today, time is of the essence. From the written testimony of David Walker, former head of the Government Accountability Office and now President and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a fiscal watchdog group:
“„[B]ased on historical tax levels and absent meaningful entitlement, spending and tax reforms, the United States will face debt burdens in the future that would make third-world nations look thrifty. [snip]
“„[W]e are currently in a $53 trillion fiscal hole. This hole gets deeper by $2-$3 trillion a year on autopilot. We need to start figuring how we are going to start climbing out of that hole. The time is over for merely saying how one will pay for new spending increases or tax cuts. It is critical that we not continue to kick the can of tough choices down the road.
The Budget Committee hearing will also cover a proposal intended to curb federal spending by creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the problem and propose policy solutions — which could include everything from tax hikes to benefit cuts. (The commission approach is often mentioned as the most feasible in an era of intense partisan bickering.) Congress would then be forced to vote on the commission’s recommendations. It would not, however, be forced to adopt any of them.
That means, of course, that this kicked-can probably still has some way to travel.
Hajra Shannon
Reviewer
Latest Articles
Popular Articles