Issue Position: Budget

Issue Position

Values

Believes that Congress has a responsibility to the American people to rein in wasteful and excessive spending. The national debt is currently more than $15 trillion. To put that in perspective, that is roughly $48,000 per person in the United States. High debt means a future of high interest, high inflation, and low jobs. We cannot sustain this path.

My generation elected the officials who made the decisions to excessively spend and borrow. My generation received whatever benefits were had from all the spending. Therefore, my generation of political leaders has an obligation to solve the nation's debt problem and not simply pass the burden onto our children and grandchildren.

Actions

Supports a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, which would control spending by prohibiting the federal government from spending more than it receives in revenues. Virginia and many other states already operate under similar guidelines. Specifically, resolutions H. J. Res. 1 and H. J. Res. 2 would require that Congress not spend more than it receives in revenues, require the President to submit a balanced budget to Congress, and require a 3/5 majority vote to increase the national debt limit.
Voted to support a Balanced Budget Amendment (H.J. Res 2) in the House on November 18, 2011.

Introduced a bill (H.R. 335) that would cut the pay of each Member of Congress by 10 percent.

Opposed the debt ceiling compromise, the Budget Control Act of 2011 (S. 365). This deal only requires a Balanced Budget Amendment to be voted on -- not passed. I hope the Democrat controlled Senate will pass a Balanced Budget Amendment as a common sense solution to solve America's debt problem, but it is far from certain. Additionally, there is a provision which, if there is congressional inaction, would allow President Obama to effectively raise the debt ceiling an additional $1.2 trillion, triggering an equal amount of blind cuts.

Supports the Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations Act of 2011 (H.R. 114), which would switch the nation's annual spending process to a two-year cycle. Under the bill, the President would submit a two-year budget and Congress would consider a two-year budget resolution and two-year spending bills. This would provide Congress with more time to conduct oversight of government spending programs and examine instances of waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars.

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