Steve Knight
Member, US House of Representatives
Passing a responsible budget is one of the most important jobs the President and Congress have. Yet during the Obama Administration’s time in office, they have consistently failed to provide on-time and fiscally responsible budgets. The latest budget proposed by the President in early March is no different than our past experiences.
For starters, it relies on a total of $2 trillion of new tax increases over the next ten years to fund additional programs despite the country still being deeply in debt[1]. Caps on deductions for charitable contributions and new taxes on businesses will be used to generate increased tax revenue. However, even with this additional revenue, there will still be a $474 billion deficit for 2016 under the President’s proposal.[2] Calling for higher spending on new programs while the budget is still hundreds of billions of dollars out of balance is not a realistic path towards fiscal stability for future generations.
In fact, the President’s proposal acknowledges that by 2020 the annual deficit will remain over $500 billion and our total national debt will exceed $18 trillion. As parent, it is difficult for me to mortgage my children’s future by passing our nation’s debt onto their shoulders only because we cannot find a long-term solution to bring our budget into balance. This is not only a fiscal issue, it is moral issue and a question of what kind of country we want to leave behind.
Hard decisions will have to be made, but my Republicans colleagues and I in Congress are committed to putting our country on a sustainable fiscal path. Leadership on this issue clearly is not going to come from the President. Instead we will have to rely on congressional leaders to get serious about finding ways to reduce spending while maintaining a strong national defense, which is the primary function of our federal government.
Most critically, Congress must also advance proposals that improve conditions for job creation so we have more Americans working and paying taxes. Better economic growth is the key to bringing the budget into balance along with targeted spending reductions. If the United States wants to maintain its position as the world’s economic and military leader, then we must get the federal government’s budget under control. As an army veteran, I know how important it is that we maintain a strong national defense force which is not possible if we do not have our fiscal house in order.
President Obama’s most recent budget proposal will certainly do little to improve our financial challenges but I am looking forward to putting forward real solutions.
[1] http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/02/list-obama-administration-tax-increases-in-2016-budget/
[2] https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2016/assets/tables.pdf