On the recordJune 9, 2010
Madam Speaker, the American people understand that this Nation is facing a debt crisis. Congress, under control of our friends on the other side of the aisle, the Democrats, has seen the deficit increase almost tenfold since they took control of Congress. We know that President Obama has now submitted a budget which will double the national debt in 5 years and triple it in 10 from 2008. Madam Speaker, I serve on the President's Fiscal Responsibility Commission, and we have recently heard testimony that when a nation's gross debt equals 90 percent of its economy--in this case, GDP--that the needle has hit the red zone, that you can lose economic growth. And, on average, history tells us you can lose 1 percentage point, a full third. The Congressional Budget Office is predicting 3 percent economic growth. It could be 2 percent. Madam Speaker, the United States' gross debt is now at 89 percent of GDP, and the American people now know it's either you cut or your children may one day face bankruptcy. Spending is out of control. Our children are facing a future with fewer jobs, shrinking paychecks, smaller homes, an American Dream that is constricted and diminished. We are on the verge of being the first generation in America's history to leave the next generation with a lower standard of living.
