Pat Meehan: Time to end deficit spending by Congress

Time to end deficit spending by Congress

By Pat Meehan

When I look at the ballooning federal budget deficit, I am reminded of a quote widely attributed to the late Senate Majority Leader Everett Dirksen: "A billion here, a billion there – pretty soon you're talking real money." Unfortunately, given the nation's current deficit projections, the famous saying may be off by $999 billion. A trillion here, a trillion there would be more accurate.

Deficit spending is not a new phenomenon by any stretch of the imagination. But what should concern Americans is the tremendous growth in deficit spending and its impact on the national debt. Between 2007 and 2009, the budget deficit more than tripled from $460 billion to an alarming $1.4 trillion. Cumulative budget deficits through 2019 will be greater than $9 trillion.

Similarly, the national debt – which was $5.8 trillion in 2008 – will double by 2012 and triple by 2019. The massive debt being amassed by Congress and the federal government represents an enormous IOU from every citizen in the United States. Today, that IOU represents a $40,300 share of the national debt for every man, woman, and child in the country. This is not a sustainable path for our country.

Future generations will pay for this excess in the form of higher taxes, greater inflation, a weakened dollar, and increasing interest payments on a growing mountain of debt. This is contrary to the very essence of the American dream, where every parent dreams of a better future for their children. For the first time, we may be leaving our children a legacy of a reduced standard of living due to the mountains of debt we are accruing to pass on to future generations. It's a frightening thought.

Within 10 years, the interest payments alone on our national debt are expected to be greater than all of the money spent on discretionary domestic spending in a year. Every dollar in interest we pay is a dollar not being invested in our children's education, creating jobs, or stabilizing Social Security and Medicare.

Reasonable voters would expect that these sobering figures would provide a wake up call to our elected representatives in Congress. As one local resident recently told me, he works three jobs and when he sees billion dollar spending bills he shakes his head in disgust and frustration. As he told me, "they just don't appreciate how hard I have to work to make $100."

As recent spending bills have shown, Congress seems intent on continuing its free-spending ways. Over the past two years, Congress has increased spending through the appropriations process by 16.8 percent or $157 billion – a figure that excludes stimulus and entitlement spending. In contrast, real-family incomes dropped by 3.6 percent in 2008, the most recent year for which data is available.

Congressional spending bills remain laden with pork and earmarks. According to Citizens Against Government Waste 10,160 special projects were included in appropriations bills in 2009, representing $19.1 billion in new spending. This represents a 14 percent increase in pork spending over the previous year.

Given the current economic challenges facing our nation, families across the country are spending more pragmatically, balancing their household budgets and reducing their credit card debt. Yet our elected officials in Washington, DC are unwilling to make a similar commitment.

As a result, one of my first priorities in Congress will be pushing for the passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This amendment would prohibit Congress from spending more than the federal government receives each year, direct the President to submit a balanced budget each year to Congress, and require a supermajority of Congress to increase the public debt limit.

By imposing constraints on Congress, it will force our elected officials to weed out wasteful spending and ineffective government programs, cut back on pork projects, and address tough issues in regards to federal spending. Plain and simple, we cannot afford to allow our current legislators to continue to pass the buck and not make the tough spending decisions that are needed.

I do not take the process of amending the U.S. Constitution lightly. But it has become clear that Congress is incapable of living within its means or exercising the necessary fiscal restraint. 49 states have similar balanced budget requirements for their state legislatures – most spelled out within state constitutions. We need the same requirement on the federal level.

Drastic action is needed. Without true leadership, we may soon be talking "a trillion here, a trillion there."

Pat Meehan is the former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and is a candidate for Congress in Pennsylvania 7th Congressional District, which includes portions of Delaware, Chester, and Montgomery Counties.