On the recordFebruary 11, 2016
this week the President unveiled his budget for fiscal year 2017, and it landed here in the Senate with a big thud. This is not the first time that has happened. In fact, when the President's budget has been brought up for a vote by the 100 Members of the Senate, it has never received more than 1 vote. Both Democrats and Republicans have roundly rejected the President's proposals. Why? Overspending and overtaxation, driving us ever deeper into debt--nobody wants to put their name to that. Yet that is the situation we are in. We are in that situation because of the irresponsible policies that have been laid upon the American people and put into law by this President and by those who have supported him. Despite numerous efforts over the past several years to address this ever-growing threat to our future, all of these efforts--some of them bipartisan, even--have been rejected by the President. They have failed due to the President's unwillingness to work with the Congress and to put us on a path to fiscal solvency. Now, I have been a part of that effort now for the last 5 years. All of us throw our hands up in frustration as we watch the debt clock click away ever faster, as we watch the debt rising ever greater. When the President took office, our national debt--the money we had to pay back--was $10.6 trillion. It is almost impossible to describe what $1 trillion is. Trust me; it is a lot of money. It was $10.6 trillion.…
