On the recordJuly 12, 2016
I have heard every excuse that there is--always do--and I know that spending reductions are not popular around here. I get it. I know it. But let me tell you what I think also is not proper. I think that it is immoral for us to spend money that we don't have-- it is not our money; it is taxpayer money--and to spend it on programs that our constituents don't want. I think it is also immoral for us to not get our spending under control and to pass along all this debt to our children and our grandchildren. Just think about it. My grandsons, who are 7 and 8 years old, by the time they begin paying taxes, these programs, many of them, will have outlived their usefulness. The utilization of these dollars will be gone. Do I hope we have the political will to look at the mandatory spending side of the column? Absolutely. A couple of other points. I would hope that bipartisanship will come to reducing what we spend in this Chamber, that there will be agreement that we are, indeed, overtaxed and overspent, and the fiscal health of this Nation needs to be addressed. I also think that what we need to look at is the burden of taxation has caused many of our constituents to face deferred maintenance on their homes, on their businesses, on their dreams, because they are having to pay their taxes, they are having to pay what the Federal Government takes out of those paychecks, first right of refusal on those paychecks. It also causes job loss.…
