On the recordFebruary 10, 2011
there are those folks around the country--and I go home to Wyoming repeatedly; I will be there again tomorrow evening--who are concerned about a $14 trillion debt this country is trying to live with, a deficit this year of $1.5 trillion. The United States, in this last year, spent $3.7 trillion and brought in $2.2 trillion. That is not sustainable. It cannot continue. We simply cannot continue at this level, where 41 cents of every dollar we spend in this country is borrowed, much of it from people overseas. It should not catch anyone by surprise today that the stimulus provisions we are talking about--the provisions from that stimulus package--are set to expire. In fact, it has been well known since the day the stimulus passed. The current financial position of the United States forces us to examine all Federal programs and make some very tough and difficult decisions. I agree the Senate should extend the prohibition on implementation of the Department of Labor's merit staffing rule which I believe is harmful and unnecessary.
