Spending

Congress must balance the budget by eliminating wasteful spending and reforming entitlement programs. Record deficits threaten our economic prosperity and the financial security of future generations.

In 2008, the federal government’s budget deficit reached a record $455 billion. The federal debt is over $10.5 trillion.

A balanced budget amendment to the Constitution is the only sure way to control government spending. I am a cosponsor of H.J. Res 1, the Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment.

Congress has an obligation to pay down the national debt so future generations are not burdened with these lavish spending excesses.

The budget deficit requires every government agency to find and fix waste, fraud, and abuse, and limit spending to the bare necessities.

Entitlements such as Medicare, Social Security, and housing and farm subsidies are known as “mandatory spending” programs. Mandatory spending consumes 60% of the federal budget, and it is growing at the unsustainable rate of 6% a year. Congress must reform entitlement programs so we can balance the budget and reduce long term spending.

Interest payments on the debt consume a growing percentage of the federal budget, making it increasingly difficult to provide taxpayers with the basic government services they expect and deserve.

I voted against H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which ceded massive and unprecedented authority to the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase any financial instrument, at any price, from any financial institution operating in the United States. Under this new law, we will borrow $700 billion by selling Treasury bills on the international bond market; we raised the national debt to $11.3 trillion, doubled the deficit overnight, and we still have not restored liquidity to the market.

I believe we must restore trust in the markets without scrapping the free-market foundation of the American financial system. I support the Securities and Exchange Commissions' revised mark to market rules, as well as the increased Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insured limit of $250,000.

I am a co-sponsor of the Free Market Protection Act, which includes a two-year suspension of the capital gains tax, an insurance program to provide immediate value to mortgage-backed securities and investor protections. This alternative plan to the bailout package would encourage capital formation without exposing taxpayers to hundreds of billions of dollars of liability for bad debt.

Congressional offices receive federal funding for staff salaries, office equipment, and official business. My office spends less money per year than nearly 400 Congressional offices, which proves that I walk the walk as a fiscal conservative. On average, my office returns 16.88 percent of our budget to the federal treasury each year, where it is used to reduce the federal deficit. Since 2001, my office has saved taxpayers $867,336, at an average rate of $144,556 a year. If every Representative spent at this level, it would save our country over $55 million a year.

PRESS RELEASES
Congressman Culberson Opposes the Farm Bill , 5/21/08
Congressman Culberson Opposes Funding Allocated to Mexico, 5/19/08
Culberson Denounces Merida Inititative and Government Credit Card Abuse, 5/09/08
Flood Insurance Bill Recklessly Expands Taxpayer Liability, 9/27/07
Fiscal Responsibility, 9/20/07
Responsible Spending, 6/21/07
Fiscal Restraint, 6/20/07

SPONSORED / COSPONSORED LEGISLATION IN THE 110th CONGRESS
H.Con.Res. 263 - To establish a Joint Select Committee on Earmark Reform, and for other purposes
H.J.Res. 1 - Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States
H.R. 473 - SAFE Commission Act
H.R. 1395 - Government Credit Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2007
H.Res. 1442 - Zero Baseline Budget Act of 2007
H.R. 1789 - To require the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation to use dynamic economic modeling in addition to static economic modeling in the preparation of budgetary estimates of proposed changes in Federal revenue law
H.R. 2558 - Government Neutrality in Contracting Act
H.R. 3654 - SAFE Commission Act
H.R. 4119 - Make It Count Act

Letter from U.S. Comptroller to Congressman Culberson regarding America's financial condition