Dave Camp for Congress

Despite already record deficits, the Obama Administration and the Democrats in Congress continue to spend the money of the American people at a record pace: in 2009, one year, they spent more than all past Presidents combined. It is unfortunate that the federal government has again chosen to ignore the voices of the American people.

I believe there is a better way and that all federal agencies and Congress should increase efforts to reduce federal spending. At a time that many Americans are tightening their belts financially, I believe Congress must do the same.

In December, Congress and the Obama Administration took a break from the fiasco it called health care reform and passed legislation to keep dozens of government agencies running into 2010. Once again, they proved they are tone deaf. Most American families during these tough economic times are cutting back on their spending and working hard to make sure they do not spend more than they take in. But not the federal government – the spending bill Congress passed and the President signed into law increased government spending by a whopping 12 percent.

I know that many people feel like just throwing their hands up in the air and say there is no way to stop runaway government spending especially now that our deficit exceeds $12 trillion. Fortunately, there are still responsible people in Washington, who understand the danger we are facing because of the reckless spending of the Obama Administration. There is no doubt that the deficit has now reached the danger zone – in fact, even China, who owns much of our debt, is worried about the continued deficit spending by the United States.

We must begin to take steps to bring spending under control. One way I support doing this is the balanced budget amendment. States, local governments, businesses and families have to balance their budget. Why shouldn’t the Federal government?

I recognize that as our deficit increases, it becomes more and more difficult to get it under control. However, there are steps we can take now to begin the process of reducing the deficit. First, we need to tighten spending by the federal government. Second, we need to take steps to begin reducing the deficit by immediately cutting discretionary spending.

I was part of the team that balanced the budget for the first time in a generation. We did it before and we need to do it again. The bottom line is this: we should balance our budget and eliminate the deficit completely by reducing spending, not raising taxes.

The first ten months of the Obama Administration has seen a $1.4 trillion budget deficit, triple the final year deficit from President George W. Bush. This is due in large part to the fact that the Democrat-controlled Congress has increased spending by over 18%. According to the Office of Management and Budget, this will lead to doubling the debt in 2012, to $16.3 trillion, and under the President Obama’s tenure, the U.S. will have acquired more debt than all previous presidents combined.

The federal government will borrow 43 cents for every dollar that it spends in 2009 – most of that will be from countries like China.

The American people have made it clear that cutting the deficit remains an important priority. They are not willing to leave trillions of dollars of debt to their children and grandchildren. Neither should Washington.