VITTER: This Debt Limit Thing Is A Spending Problem, Not A Revenue Problem
I want you to know I’m holding strong on the debt limit debacle. For months we’ve heard the doomsday rhetoric about the debt limit which is only leading us to “armageddon-style” legislating like we saw with the bailouts and Obamacare.
Well I’m fighting back with common-sense proposals like the Cut, Cap and Balance plan – a three pronged approach that would address the underlying causes of the federal government’s massive debt by cutting federal spending, placing caps on annual spending levels and requiring the passage of a balanced budget constitutional amendment.
Last week we were only four Senate Democrats short of passing our Cut, Cap and Balance Act. I think it’s outrageous that every Democrat voted against Cut, Cap and Balance, even though 22 of them and one Independent previously promised to support a balanced budget.
Several of my colleagues and I are working to force another vote on Cut, Cap & Balance this week because President Obama and Harry Reid have not offered the American people any other viable solution – other than increasing taxes by trillions of dollars.
They still don’t understand that our financial crisis is not because of a revenue problem – it’s a spending and borrowing problem.
Imagine that one of your relatives came to you and said, “I’ve racked up a huge credit card debt and I’m on the verge of bankruptcy, but I think I’ve figured out the solution. I just need you to help me get a higher limit on my credit card so I can keep spending money.”
Of course, we all know the real cause of the crisis isn’t the person’s debt limit – it’s the debt itself and the overspending that caused it. The same is true for our federal government.
The Cut, Cap and Balance Act would attack the debt not by raising taxes, but by cutting federal spending, placing caps on annual spending levels and requiring the passage of a balanced budget constitutional amendment.
None of us want to see our nation default – which is why we must come together and fight to reduce the debt with bold leadership. Cut, Cap and Balance is just that.
Does cut, cap an balance actually reduce the $14.3 trillion national debt or does it actually result in an overall increase to the national debt in 10 years? Possibly cut, cap and balance does not even do enough to get the national debt down to a reasonable level. Has anyone seen actual figures of what the national debt would be in 10 years if cut, cap and balance did pass?