Bill Sali: “Today Members of Congress faced two budget resolutions. The choice is a clear one between bigger, more expensive and…”

“Today Members of Congress faced two budget resolutions. The choice is a clear one between bigger, more expensive and more intrusive government versus fiscal discipline based on key priorities. Now, fiscal discipline is hard, which is why it is not always popular. It is easy for some to vote to increase government spending, but ultimately someone must pay for it. It is common to hear about the 'government' doing this project or that project. We hear a lot about the 'government' spending money, but we must not allow the idea of 'government' doing something to lead us to forget that, ultimately, 'We the People' are the ones who have to pay for what government does. The nineteenth century economist Frederic Bastiat once said that 'government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.' Although the Federal Government is not known for its fiscal discipline, we are now facing a budget that exceeds even the most fevered imaginings of history's biggest spenders. It would enact the largest tax increase in history--an almost $400 billion increase. This is one path, and it is the one down which the new Majority proposes to take us. We also had the opportunity to take another path, a roadway to a balanced budget without raising taxes on working Americans. The choice is clear. The Democratic budget would do serious harm to Idahoans, their families and their businesses.”