Was the debt ceiling deal enough for families?
August 3, 2011
I’m sure you’ve heard by now that after weeks of political grandstanding, Congress raised the debt ceiling so that our country can continue paying for its current obligations. And while the immediate crisis has been averted, the work is far from over.
The reality is that the debt-ceiling deal still allows our country to dramatically overspend its means — and has made little headway in addressing the real problem: our out-of-control federal spending.
The new plan will reduce spending by $2.4 trillion over the course of the next 10 years. But the same plan still allows the country to continue its habitual overspending by more than $7 trillion dollars over the same period.
Even worse, this planned overspending assumes the government’s revenues will drastically increase — highly unlikely given the current state of our economy. If the federal government continues to take in revenue at its current level, our actual overspending will far exceed the $7 trillion estimate.
On this week’s CitizenLink Report , Stuart Shepard spoke with financial expert Bill Beach of the Heritage Foundation regarding the debt ceiling deal. Click here to watch.
Of course, our government’s budget is approved on a yearly basis, making a 10-year plan idealistic at best. The idea that we — and our children and grandchildren — won’t have to pay for our current debt crisis for years to come underscores what our elected officials still refuse to acknowledge: The problem is here and now.
We simply cannot allow this important issue to be dealt with superficially, without serious, long-term vision and action. It’s past time for Congress to do the job we elected them to do — make the tough decisions to rein in federal spending and safeguard an environment in which families and communities can thrive.
For faith and family,
Tom Minnery
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