Honor the Debt Limit and Cut Spending Now, not in 2012
By Guest Post | Tuesday, March 1st, 2011 | Columns, Policy
By Jamie Radtke, Candidate for U.S. Senate in Virginia
I was honored to meet with the House Tea Party Caucus yesterday to discuss the daunting challenges we face as a nation, in particular our spending and our mounting national debt.
I told the members that watching the budget debate in Washington lately has made me feel like Alice in “Alice in Wonderland.” Are our leaders in touch with reality? Is this really happening? One can only conclude that most in Congress subscribe to “Wonderland Economics.”
Our national debt is already more than 95% of our GDP. Our unfunded liabilities are at least $112 trillion. Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s have warned that they will yank our triple-A credit rating if we continue on our current trajectory. Interest payments on our national debt are the fastest growing component in the federal budget.
Economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff of the University of Maryland and Harvard University, respectively, studied the effect of national debt on economic growth in 44 countries spanning 200 years of history.
What they found is chilling: Countries that allow their debt-to-GDP ratio to reach 90% usually go into significant economic decline. As the nations hit this debt intolerance ceiling, market interest rates rise suddenly and quickly, and they can no longer grow their way out of their problems.
The United States is at that point today. Are our leaders listening? Are they awake? Unless we reverse course immediately, we face a collapse similar to that of Greece.
President Obama and his economic team have failed this leadership challenge to significantly cut our spending. The U.S. Senate has failed the test. Sadly, so have the Republican leaders in the House, despite many opportunities to lead America to lower spending.
Criticizing the most powerful leaders in my own party, including the Majority Leader who also happens to be my own Congressman, probably strikes many in the Republican Establishment and pundit-sphere as politically unwise or imprudent. And they may be right. But the facts are the facts and the real insanity is punting to the next vote.
This brings me to the subject of the debt ceiling.
I challenge the Republican leadership to show the way. Honor the current debt ceiling. Cut current fiscal year spending to 2008 levels. Eliminate corporate welfare. Go hard after domestic spending that is not absolutely necessary. Reduce defense spending unrelated to protecting us from terrorism or to concluding the Iraq and Afghanistan missions. And reform entitlements, restoring their solvency and the solvency of our country.
The time to act is now, not next year or the year after the elections.
We MUST take immediate action to avert the kind of austerity programs that were imposed on Greece by its creditors. I would rather that we decide how and when to reduce our federal spending as opposed to having China and our other creditors dictate to us what must be cut. That would be the ultimate failure for us.
This nation may never have faced a threat more ominous than the threat it faces today.
But I believe, and recent polls confirm, that the American people aren’t afraid to face this crisis head-on, and we have the character and courage to do what we know in our bones is right. It’s time for our leaders to reflect and represent the courage of those they lead.
Tags:
Contribute for Conservatism!
We're 75% there! Thank you to everyone who has so far contributed! Just $2000 to go!
Comments
20 Responses to "Honor the Debt Limit and Cut Spending Now, not in 2012"
Sorry folks, but these views are representative of a wing nut divorced from the reality of the effect of her comments. Honor the debt ceiling? Does she have a clue of the effect of defaulting on our debt? How does she think the rating agencies will feel about that? Look, rational citizens know we must return to the pay go principles of the President Clinton/republican Congress era when we were in surplus and paying down on the national debt, and most rational citizens want to get there again. The question is how to do so without causing another depression/recession. This speech shows that Radtke is simply not ready for prime time.
“I challenge the Republican leadership to show the way. Honor the current debt ceiling. Cut current fiscal year spending to 2008 levels. Eliminate corporate welfare. Go hard after domestic spending that is not absolutely necessary. Reduce defense spending unrelated to protecting us from terrorism or to concluding the Iraq and Afghanistan missions. And reform entitlements, restoring their solvency and the solvency of our country.”
I think the Tea Party folk are happy to hear Radtke talking about cutting back on defense spending, Republicans just don’t do that. It is one of the many things that sets the Tea Party apart from the GOP, and championing those cuts is something that could probably help draw more Blue Dog Democrats into the Tea Party.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures
Temporary, I’ll second that. We need to responsibly fund legitimate military business but it is beyond the pale how the military industrial complex has coddled our public servants.. Follow the money.
What polls make you think that American voters are ready to accept deep cuts? The Democrats would absolutely love for the GOP to start calling for deep entitlement cuts going into the 2012 election season.
And since when do conservatives talk about eliminating “corporate welfare”? That’s liberal talk. Liberals think that corporations get *too much* help from the government. Conservatives just want the government to get out of the way.
BTW Rogoff isn’t at UMD he’s a Harvard economist. Look it up. The book alluded to is from Princeton University Press. Conservatives cite academic economics professors from liberal elite schools all the time, right?
Next let’s talk about the complete lack of understanding of how our government works shown in this article. There is NO WAY for China to dictate austerity measures for us. Austerity measures were forced on Greece because of their membership in the EU. We have no similar relationship with China. Period. None. Zero. Nada. China can sell off the US treasury debt that it holds but it can’t dictate ANYTHING to us. What kind of conservative could be this confused about how our government works?
Rob, the primary poll that I saw that demonstrates that American voters are ready to accept deep cuts was on November 2, 2010. Seemed pretty clear to me.
That being said, there is no way we can cut spending enough to keep the debt ceiling from being raised. It’s simply not possible.
The House Republicans have demonstrated they’re going to cut spending, and that’s good. But we can’t afford to box them into a corner by playing chicken with the debt ceiling.
At some point the rhetoric needs to catch up to reality.
I have to chime in on Rob Tomkin’s comment. He is absolutely right. The Democrats have already begun “waving the bloody shirt” of entitlement programs. Harry Reid has adopted “the Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare” as his favorite talking point. As to reducing the deficit by reductions in discretionary spending, look up the figures: you can’t get there from here. Even if you eliminated, not reduced, the Defense budget, you would not be able to balance the Federal budget while meeting future entitlement obligations.
The American people, not Congress, have not come to accept that our entitlement programs have become unsustainable. If we are going to retain some form of social welfare programs, drastic changes will be needed. Higher retirement ages, an end to COLA-based automatic benefit increases, remove all caps on payroll taxes, and perhaps even means testing. Until the American public accepts that reality, the politicians of both major parties will continue to use the issue as a political football and do nothing constructive.
Polls consistently show that American voters favor “deep cuts” as long as you’re vague about what will be cut. Start to propose the kind of cuts that would be needed and you lose voter support quickly. The Democrats would absolutely love to have opponents talk about cutting entitlements.
That’s a minor point compared to how un-conservative the rest of the article is. “Corporate welfare”? That’s liberalspeak for “corporations aren’t taxed and regulated enough”. And the basic misunderstandings about how our government works! Claiming that China can dictate terms to us? Give me a break.
Radtke is way to radical to ever get any Democrats on board with her.She will be lucky to get a few indys.
At some point the rhetoric needs to catch up to reality.
Darn right. Fact is the nation is broke and that’s why the citizens are up in arms over their entitlements. No one has gone to jail, the Fed is still sleeping with the crooks, and the people are the patsy.
Gotta boost that debt ceiling or we are sunk? Then why worry about it? Just have the Fed keep printing paper and buying it back. They own more than China.
China can’t dictate to us. Really? How about when they decide to take Taiwan back? What will we do then, go to war? How about N. Korea dumping on the south? Or China buying out all latest oil fields like they have been doing? Or their push to replace the dollar as reserve currency?
And BTW, how does this years state budget compare to the ones in the past? Higher or Lower?
If things are so rosy, why does the Fed need to expand the debt ceiling and most other states call the next two years a catastrophe?
It could not be more clesar.. China has morphed into a shadow member of the Obama economic team because the One has spilled our over leveraged our beans past the tipping point (90%) which is not a baseless number someone pulled out of thin air. Chinese Comunists want Taiwan and we will not be in a position to stop them.. remember, they have tho posture of power by calling their notes and Obama will have a tough call to make.
The old GOP drifted way off course and now the dems equally unsustainable dare I say traitorous course correction may allow a one time and possible future enemy to have significant influence over our nation’s economy and by default our security.
Yeah the Liberals are happy, the Rinos are nervous but the conservatives and indys are justifiably pissed now.
What is out-of-touch with reality is Jamie Rat-ke herself. She came to Virginia Beach and told Republican women she wanted to cut the Federal Budget by $1 trillion.
Days later, Rand Paul unveiled a specific plan for cutting the Budget by $500 billion. To point out the obvious, if it could have been cut further in a responsible way, Paul would have proposed it. He didn’t.
The TEA Party offers nothing but vague rhetoric where specific solutions are required.
Defense spending represents 1/4 of the federal budget; we ought to be able to make significant cuts without risking national security – if we make the cuts based upon defense needs rather than domestic politics. That likely means Norfolk’s carrier goes to Mayport or San Diego. IMO, the military’s job is to make America safe, not to pump up Virginia’s economy. “Deep cuts”? Sure, let’s face this crisis ‘head on’ ~ just NIMBY, right?
I’m curious, will Ms. Radtke join with the rest of Virginia’s delegation working to keep the carrier here, or will she … “Reduce defense spending unrelated to protecting us from terrorism or to concluding the Iraq and Afghanistan missions”? You can not make AND keep both promises.
China calling the shots? Look again at what the article said. It was comparing our situation to Greece. They had to give in to austerity measures *because of their membership in the EU*. We have NO similar relationship with China. None. The comparison is either dishonest or completely ignorant about how our government works. I assumed it was mere ignorance, wanting to give the benefit of the doubt there.
China could declare war on Taiwan and that would put us in a bad situation diplomatically. That’s not anything like the Greece comparison made in the article and it’s NOT China “calling the shots.” Libya could declare war on Israel. Or vice versa. Iran could bomb Israel or Israel could bomb Iran. North Korea could attack South Korea or shoot missiles at Japan. There are all kinds of situations that could blow up. So what? That doesn’t change the fact that the person who wrote the original article is sadly ignorant about how our government works. Or dishonestly pandering to conservatives in a way that assumes conservatives are ignorant fools, if you prefer. Conservatives as a rule know a lot more about how our government actually works than this author gives them credit for.
China’s push to replace the dollar as reserve currency? Thanks for the laugh. China did suggest at one point that something other than the dollar should become the international reserve currency … but anyone who takes that seriously is looking for a reason to boost China and hurt the USA. Notice the lack of specifics. How is that going to work exactly? The yuan is not a credible candidate for that replacement. A few years ago people might have suggested the euro but you don’t hear that suggestion much lately for obvious reasons. The Chinese tried suggesting at one point that a NEW international currency be created … that sound you hear in response is the sound of crickets chirping.
If you think there’s any truth to this then go buy Chinese index funds and exchange as many dollars as you can for Chinese yuan. No? Didn’t think so.
Rob, I’ll oversimplify.. Would Radtke or Allen have voted for TARP?
It is ironic that the states that took aggressive action to cut costs, and utilized stimulus money to best advantage, are already reaping the reward of the federal state partnership. Some did not act, and now are left with fewer choices. The consensus of rational citizens is that we must get rid of low priority programs, set a course to first reduce the deficit, then make inroads in the debt, and make the adjustments in entitlements that are necessary due to changes in lifestyle. Frankly, cogent politicians can do this, and do it responsibly. Save us from the zealots who will do more harm than good.
Mike, is ‘stimulus money’ for research at Wake Forest University to see how monkeys react under the effects of cocaine something “cogent politicians” voted for? I wonder if they use Macaques? http://www.recovery.gov/Transparency/RecipientReportedData/pages/RecipientProjectSummary508.aspx?AwardIdSur=8352&AwardType=Grants
I can’t make this stuff up.. Makes as much sense as sending a delegation to Detroit and observing how democrats react under the effects of cocaine when the polls open. I’m sure Detroit PD would love to provide cover for an elite bunch of intellectually superior wealth redistributing multicultural politicos riding the mean streets of ‘Troit.. “Hey America, this is the idiotic boo-sh*t the gubment spends stim’lus money on, come get yo free nose candy!” I call Monkeys on Cocaine at taxpayer expense a huge waste Mike, what say you?
Speaking of monkey business..
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/business/economy/05stcloud.html?_r=1
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/pdf/201008/20100802report-summertimeblues.pdf
But, turbo. The President told us that the Stimulus Bill “saved or created” 3.5 million jobs.
Now let’s see. At $787B, the Federal government could have just paid 3.5 million people $100,000 each to just stay home and saved a few billions.
And to think that people call the Defense budget wasteful…
“I challenge the Republican leadership to show the way. Honor the current debt ceiling.”
To honor the current debt ceiling would require balancing the budget today. Jim DeMint proposed balancing the budget over 10 years, so if you think we should do it today, don’t criticize our current majority leader, prove you’re serious:
Call out Jim DeMint as a RINO.
“I call Monkeys on Cocaine at taxpayer expense a huge waste Mike, what say you?”
Seems to work out alright for the monkeys.
Speaking of Macaca, what powder was George Allen tooting when he was in the senate and spent like a drunk fratboy after winning the superbowl? No wonder flip phones are selling better in Virginia now, the dem tracker Olympics have just gotten underway. GA went from being a great governor to a big government senator running for potus and entertaining delusions of grandeur. What votes did Allen make that got him fired? Is he not one of the few supposedly fiscally conservative good ole boy senators whose spending helped inspire the birth of the Tea Party movement? I need a refresher.
Leave your response