If you've turned on a television or
opened a newspaper in the last few weeks, you've no doubt seen the so-called "fiscal
cliff" conversation unfolding in Washington. The "fiscal
cliff" is Washington-speak for the expiration of Bush-era tax rates
coupled with across-the-board spending cuts on many domestic spending
accounts. While the fiscal cliff coverage continues to escalate as the
January deadline draws near, I can tell you these discussions are absolutely
nothing new. They are a continuation of every discussion that the House
and the President have had during my two years in Congress: the President wants
to see taxes go up and he doesn't want to see spending go down, and the House
wants spending to come down and doesn't want to see tax rates go up.
Though this discussion isn't new, the culmination of so many parts of the
discussion at Christmas is, and the Administration is certainly trying to use
that to its advantage.
Today's federal debt is more than
$16 trillion—larger than all parts of the U.S. economy combined. By 2016,
it will be $22 trillion. During his first term, President Obama
did a great job of convincing America that our spiraling debt crisis is a tax
issue rather than a spending issue. Any analysis of the problem agrees
that there is a tax revenue problem, and the problem is that millions of
Americans are struggling to obtain a good job in the current economy, and if
they can't earn an income then they don't pay income taxes. We need these
Americans to be able to find work and thus pay taxes, and when they do, all
economists agree that revenue will go up. In August, the U.S. House
passed our bill to raise tax revenue from its current levels today by ending
loopholes in the tax code and putting people back to work. I support
bringing revenues back to pre-recession historically normal levels. That
is easy to do and has broad support. I also support bringing record-high
federal spending down to pre-recession historically normal levels. That
effort has proven much harder as the House has yet to find a willing partner in
the Administration or the Senate to work with us on that goal. Federal
spending under the President's budget continues to increase so fast that no
amount of tax increases—no matter how high—can achieve a balanced budget.
I understand that confronting runaway spending is hard, but it must be done,
and every effort being made by the House during "fiscal cliff"
discussions is targeted toward persuading the White House and the Senate to
join us in grappling with how best to meet this challenge for America.
If you have any doubt about how
hard it is to persuade Washington to confront its spending habits, you need
only remember why the word "sequestration" has entered the American
lexicon. Sequestration—the spending cuts going into effect in January—was
never intended to occur. It was simply the hammer we put in place 18
months ago when the President asked to raise America's debt ceiling, and
Speaker Boehner and House Republicans asked for dollar-for-dollar spending
reductions to begin to confront the problem. The consensus agreement was
passed in the Budget Control Act of 2011, but over the last 18 months, the
President and the Senate have failed to approve the required spending
reductions. The House passed its bill way back in May of this year, and
then passed yet another alternative in September, but even as I write this email,
I have yet to see any proposal from the White House or the Senate to follow
through on the commitment that they made back in August of 2011. Without
the agreement (or in this case, even a proposal) from the White House or Senate
on spending reductions, the across-the-board cuts now known as
"sequestration" will most certainly take effect on January 1st.
To clear up any confusion, yes, the
White House did make a proposal last week, but it wasn't a spending reduction
proposal. President Obama sent Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to
Capitol Hill to deliver a plan that simply raised taxes, proposed even more
spending, delayed for another year all of the reductions that he agreed to in
August of 2011, and put off making any tough decisions yet again. This
"plan" follows the same path as every other failed Washington plan of
the last 40 years—raise taxes today, raise spending today, and promise to make
the tough choices to reduce spending tomorrow. Taxes always succeed in
going up today, spending always succeeds in going up today, but the tough
decisions never seem to happen, and deficits and debts continue to pile up to
cloud the future of our children and grandchildren. No more! I am a
willing partner in a comprehensive solution that shrinks the debts and
deficits, but I will not be complicit in kicking the can down the road.
The President is looking at the
same set of facts that we are: this nation is facing over $16 trillion in
public debt—the largest public debt in American history. That's $55,000
for every man, woman, and child in the country. While I believe the
President means well for this country, his ten-year budget plan does absolutely
nothing to improve our economic trajectory over the next decade.
Will a Mayan Apocalypse occur if
the Speaker and the President do not reach an agreement this month?
Likely not, though I can guarantee an American economic collapse will come
eventually if we allow Washington's profligate spending and record-setting
deficits to continue. I remain optimistic that Congress will reach an
agreement this month. America can accept nothing less than the small
beginnings of a long-term effort to get America's budget and America's economy
back in the black. While I want to make big changes to restore our nation
and our economy, to secure the President's support I could settle for only a
half a step forward toward lower spending, but I will not agree to a half a
step backward toward higher spending and continued record deficits.
I promise to keep you informed in
the coming days as the Speaker and President seek consensus. I will
continue our telephone town hall series from Washington as the debate
continues. You can find out how to participate as well as see upcoming
dates and times by clicking
here. Also, you can watch my latest Special Order speech on the
fiscal cliff by clicking
here. I hope you will continue to provide me with your feedback by
emailing me or logging on to my webpage. Know that my door is always open
to you and that I never forget that I work for you.
Thank you for your commitment to
keeping America strong.
Sincerely,
Rob Woodall
