Melvin Watt: “Mr. Chairman, Harry Truman used to say, in an earlier and perhaps better era here in D.C., "The buck stops here." In…”

“Mr. Chairman, Harry Truman used to say, in an earlier and perhaps better era here in D.C., "The buck stops here." In today's Washington, D.C. your buck barely gets a chance to wipe its feet before it is back out the door in the form of some new Federal spending. Without the fiscal discipline of a balanced budget amendment, I doubt this Congress will be able to make the tough choices that are required, no matter what party is in charge. It is time to quit passing the buck, or in this case, the debt, to future generations and put our fiscal house in order. The national debt is nearly 5 times higher today than it was when Ronald Reagan became President in 1981. That is a disgraceful bipartisan legacy of irresponsible spending and tax giveaways. The total debt of the Federal Government totals more than $4.6 trillion, $16,000 for every man, woman and child in America. Interest alone will total more than $225 billion this year. That is 10 times more than all the funds spent by the Federal Government on all education programs and assistance this year.”