Jeb Hensarling: “I rise again today as a member of the Washington Waste Watchers, a Republican working group dedicated to rooting out…”

“I rise again today as a member of the Washington Waste Watchers, a Republican working group dedicated to rooting out rampant waste, fraud, abuse and duplication in the Federal bureaucracy. Despite the major economic recovery that is under way, despite more new jobs and historic rates of homeownership, Democrats keep demanding that we take tax relief away from American families. Take away the tax relief that is responsible for the unparalleled growth in our economy, the tax relief that is creating jobs, the very same tax relief that has actually added revenues to our Federal Treasury. That is right, the Treasury Department reports that revenues are up due to tax relief-generated economic growth. When it comes to the Federal deficit, Mr. Speaker, our fiscal challenges lie on the spending side, not on the taxing side; and that is where we must focus our attention. And by any measure, spending is out of control in Washington. For only the fourth time in the history of our Nation, the Federal Government is now spending over $20,000 per family. This is up from just $16,000 just 5 years ago. This represents the largest expansion of the government in 50 years. Since I have been alive, the Federal budget has grown seven times faster than the family budget. Clearly we have a spending problem, not a taxing problem.”