Economy and Federal Spending
The key to getting our economy back on track and getting Americans back to work is finding ways to help private-sector businesses thrive. As someone who started and ran his own small business for nearly 30 years, I understand the challenges these businesses face, and, as a member of the House Committee on Small Business, I will continue to push for common sense policies that will reduce the tax and regulatory burden under which entrepreneurs and business owners must operate. If we do this, it will give businesses the incentives to grow and hire more workers, unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of the American people, and promote real, sustainable economic growth. While we need to pursue these kinds of reforms within our current system, in the end I believe we need to eliminate the income tax and replace it with the FairTax - a national sales tax that would replace all other forms of federal taxation. Rather than taxing productivity, like our current tax system, the FairTax would foster economic growth, keep American businesses competitive in the international marketplace, hinder tax-evasion, and encourage investment.
We must also balance the federal budget, which will help to restore confidence to financial markets around the world, give banks the confidence to begin lending once again to small businesses, and ensure that the next generation of American entrepreneurs are not saddled with excessive taxes. Annual deficits have been over $1 trillion for four years straight, and the national debt is quickly approaching $17 trillion. In 2006, when President Obama was still in the Senate, he said that “increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally,” and that “leadership” means not “shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.” I couldn’t agree more, and I plan on fighting every day here in Congress to reduce federal spending and get our nation’s fiscal house in order. However, we cannot fix our nation's finances without an honest, grown-up conversation about entitlement reform. The two biggest entitlements, Social Security and Medicare, are each insolvent, and a crisis is around the corner if we continue to ignore the problem and fail to act. Since Americans who are nearing retirement age and those who are already retired paid into Social Security and Medicare their entire working lives, Congress must ensure that they receive the benefits they rightfully expect and have been promised.
However, the fact remains that Social Security and Medicare face serious solvency problems in the long term, and the unfunded liabilities of these programs range in the tens of trillions of dollars. If we do nothing to reform them, future beneficiaries will receive only a small percentage of their promised benefits – if they receive anything at all. For this reason, we must look for common-sense reforms that will provide the benefits promised to those near or in retirement while at the same time protecting Social Security and Medicare for future generations.
More on Economy and Federal Spending
Washington, DC – Congressman Steve King released the following video excerpt on his remarks from the House Floor introducing his Davis-Bacon Amendment to H.R. 4923, FY 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill:
To view Congressman Steve King’s full remarks, click here.
Washington, DC – Congressman Steve King released the following statement after voting in favor of the Conference Report for H.R. 3080, the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) of 2014:
Washington, DC – Congressman Steve King released the following statement after welcoming the members of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce to Washington DC for their 60th annual lobbying trip on Capitol Hill:
Washington, DC – Congressman Steve King released the following video statement in response to the passage of the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives today:
To watch Congressman King’s full remarks, click here.
Washington, DC – Congressman Steve King released the following statement after sending a letter to leaders of the House Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee regarding the Common Core State Standards Initiative. This letter asks that language be included in the FY2015 Appropriations Bill to restore state decision-making and accountability with respect to state academic content standards, including Common Core. There are 35 co-signers on the letter. Senator Chuck Grassley is the leader of a companion letter in the Senate.
Washington, DC – Congressman Steve King released the following statement after meeting with business and community leaders from Fort Dodge and Webster County in his Washington, DC office:
Washington, DC – Congressman Steve King released the following statement after President Obama signed an executive order today raising the minimum wage on federal contracts. The executive order raises the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 an hour.
Washington, DC – Congressman Steve King released the following statement after voting against S. 540, The Temporary Debt Limit Extension Act. This Act suspends the debt ceiling through March 15, 2015.
“This bill fails the American people by both suspending the debt limit and increasing spending,” said King. “We are handing the President and Democrats exactly what they want - essentially a borrowed, blank check for the rest of the year - ‘no strings attached.’
Washington, DC – Congressman Steve King released the following statement after voting against the 1,582 page Omnibus Spending Bill - H.R. 3547, the Consolidated Appropriations Act:
“This bill spends too much of your money,” said King.