The Spending Problem
“Now that the Democrats are in charge in Congress, it’s time for we Republicans to rediscover our limited government roots. If voters want bigger government, sooner or later they will return to the genuine article: the Democratic Party.”
- Congressman Jeff Flake
Our federal government has an addiction - politicians are hooked on spending your hard-earned tax dollars on reckless, pork barrel projects that saddle our grandchildren with massive debt to pay for projects that have more to do with ensuring re-election than with the constitutional functions of government.
Our children and grandchildren cannot afford for us to send a politician to Washington with promises of making the system work better for us. We must send a statesman to Congress to fundamentally change the system.
We need courage and true statesmanship in Congress to reform government spending practices. As congressman, Keith Richardson will neither request nor accept unaccountable earmarks for his district, and will support the following principles and initiatives:
- Grant the president line-item veto authority.
- Enforce House of Representatives rules against unauthorized spending.
- Require full disclosure for each earmark request.
- Adopt a three-fifths (60%) supermajority requirement to raise taxes.
- Impose an immediate, one-year moratorium on congressional earmarks.
No plan to fix government spending would be honest absent a plan to reform Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Every year that Congress does not address these “entitlements” moves us closer to crisis as “baby boomers” retire. If we fail to reform these entitlement programs, they will consume our entire national budget by 2045. This is not only unsustainable, but irresponsible and immoral. As congressman, Keith Richardson will work for legitimate reforms that keep America’s promise to our seniors while ensuring that the system remains viable for future generations.
Limiting government spending has always been a core plan in the Republican Party’s tradition and policy platform. Republicans should act now to make our legislative record match our rhetoric.
Quick facts about government spending:
- According to the Americans for Tax Reform, July 11, 2007 was the day when America’s workers finish paying for the cost of state, federal and local government. The organization’s annual study says families work an average of 192 days per year to comply with costs government assesses on taxpayers.
- Citizens Against Government Waste, a non-partisan watchdog group, deems a spending item wasteful if just two of the following criteria are met: The spending was requested by only one chamber of Congress; It was not specifically authorized; It was not competitively awarded; It was not requested by the President; It greatly exceeds the President’s budget request or the previous year’s funding; It was not the subject of congressional hearings; It only serves a local or special interest.
- Read the Club for Growth’s 2007 “Re-pork Card” on congressional spending.