Paragould Daily Press: Boozman Discusses Federal Debt at Local Meeting

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By Chad Miller,

U.S. Sen. John Boozman visited with several Greene County and Paragould officials as well as private citizens Thursday at the Paragould Community Center to address some of the concerns Arkansans have about issues lawmakers in Washington, D.C. were currently facing. In Friday's Daily Press, Boozman addressed his concerns about the health care law.

Another issue Boozman addressed is the nation's growing debt. He said right now the nation is "on a course that's simply unsustainable." He said the U.S. is currently spending $3.7 trillion while only taking in $2.2 trillion. He said more than 40 cents of every dollar spent by the U.S. is borrowed from countries like China and Saudi Arabia.

"You can't do that. It doesn't matter if you're a family. It doesn't matter if you're a business person," Boozman said. "You can't borrow like that. It just doesn't work. Plus, there is a national security issue in the sense that because of the people that we're borrowing from in case they cut us off."

Boozman said the U.S. could benefit from having a balanced budget amendment similar to one the Arkansas State Constitution has. He said Arkansas governors from Bill Clinton to Mike Beebe have "done a good job of holding the line on spending" and part of the reason was because the state's constitution does not allow deficit spending.

"We've got to put ourselves in a similar box," Boozman said. "We've got to pass legislation that makes it very difficult to continue on the course that we're on. If we do that, I think we'll be greater and stronger than ever before. The whole world looks to us for leadership. If they see that we're really serious about controlling our spending, controlling the deficit, we're going to do great. If we don't, we'll have a financial crisis in a few years."

Boozman said if lawmakers "kick the can down the road," the deficit could effect future generations and the U.S. could find itself in a financial crisis similar to countries like Greece and Portugal.

"We have to quit spending more than we have," he said. "These are just very simple truths."

Boozman said had he been a member of the House of Representatives, he would not have voted to raise the debt ceiling. He said the only way he would vote for such a policy in the Senate would be if the bill came with measures that would make it difficult for government to overspend.

"We do have to raise [the debt ceiling] eventually. There's no ifs, ands or buts," Boozman said. "The tradeoff, I think will be to get a law in place that restricts our ability to [overspend]."

Boozman said he is currently co-sponsoring a balanced budget amendment similar to one that was introduced in the 90s that failed in the House of Representatives by one vote.

"You can imagine what our country would be like if that had passed. You can imagine what the world would be like," Boozman said. "It would be a much better place if the votes had been there to get [the amendment passed] then. Arkansas can do it. It's not going to be done overnight. It's going to take a period of years."

Boozman warned that if Congress does not take steps to control the national debt, interest rates could rise dramatically. He said he believes people are "waking up" to the fact that the debt must be controlled. He said the American people "are willing to sacrifice" if they don't feel the debt will be "balanced on their backs" or that if government will start "some other goofy program" to spend even more money.

"Everybody is going to take a haircut on this thing," Boozman said. "There's no confidence in government right now."

Another issue Boozman said was "a real drag on the economy" was the high price of gasoline. He said when the price of gas gets around $3.50/gallon, "it starts effecting behavior" and at $4/gallon "things really start to shut down."

"I think the [price of] gas is having a tremendous impact on the economy," Boozman said. "For every one cent increase [in the price of gas] it's like a billion dollars out of the economy."

Boozman said the nation must have an energy policy that utilizes "the resources that we have." He said he not only favored the use of fossil fuels, he also supported the use of renewable energy.

"That will do two things," Boozman said. "It will drive down the price [of energy] because there is supply and demand involved. That will also preclude us from sending hundreds of billions of dollars overseas to countries that don't like us like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela."

Boozman said a policy like that would also help to solve the nation's trade imbalance with other countries.

Paragould Mayor Mike Gaskill said he recalled lawmakers pushing for alternative energy sources since the gas crisis of the 1970s. He and Boozman agreed high gas prices not only have a negative impact on not only the national economy, but the local economy as well. However, Gaskill said he believed the answer should come from private enterprise rather than government.

"When [people] have to drive to work somewhere and they don't have to drive very far at all, that takes money out of their ability to entertain themselves and things like that," Gaskill said. "I have yet to find a government program that they run very well... that private enterprise has done a better job [of running]. Yet, it seems we're twarting private enterprise's ability to find new ways to create alternative energy."

Boozman said drilling for more oil was one way to bring the price of gas down. He said the drilling could be done with minimal effect on the environment.

"The footprint that it would take to drill where there's a tremendous amount of oil and do it in a responsible way amongst millions of acres would be about the size of the O'Hare International Airport," Boozman said. "We can do that in an environmentally sensitive way."

Boozman said another argument against drilling for more oil was that it would take too long for the production to impact the market. However, he said if the drilling is done now it will make an impact.

"If we had done it 10 years ago, [the oil] would be here," Boozman said. "We've got to do these things. It's got to be a national emergency."

Boozman said producing more fuel-efficient vehicles would also effect gas prices. He said officials with Fed Ex were interested in getting some of their fleets on electric vehicles.

"There's lots of things we can do," Boozman said. "The good news is the technology is getting to where [alternative energy sources] are actually profitable. Those are the kind of things we've got to get done as a country because it really is a tremendous threat to the country."

Boozman said the White House supported "cap and tax scheme" is not what the country needs. He said that legislation will accomplish just the opposite of what needs to be done.

"What this administration would like to do is significantly increase the price of fossil fuels in an arbratrary way," Boozman said. "Then, you reduce the need for foreign [oil] because you don't have the money to buy it. It's absolutely crazy. That scheme would double the price of our electricity and add well over a dollar a gallon to the price of gasoline now. What does that do to our manufacturing base? What does that do to single moms who are trying to pay the bills? What does that do to all of us?"

Boozman said cap and tax is one of the things Republican lawmakers have had to "push back" against.

Boozman also talked about the recent flooding in Arkansas. He said currently lawmakers are "trying to ascertain the damage."

"First you have to figure out what the problem is and how big it is," Boozman said. "FEMA has done a good job, as best I can tell, of trying to be helpful. There's always kinks in that and our staff is here to help work those things out."

One of the committees Boozman serves on is the Senate Agricultural Committee. He said he informed committee members of the flood damage in Arkansas during a recent meeting.

"For many of our families, the devastation that we've had is equivalent to Katrina or anything else," Boozman said. "We've got to think outside the box to help those families. We can argue about government. But, this is the kind of thing that is a backstop where the federal and state government can step in."

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