“In his State of the Union address last week, President Obama finally acknowledged that government spending and deficits were out-of-control.  That’s why I was truly amazed when President Obama unveiled his reckless budget plan today.  It repeats all of the same ‘spend-and-borrow’ errors of his first year in office.  According to the President, the budget deficit in FY 2011 will be a record $1.6 trillion, breaking the previous all-time mark of $1.4 trillion set last year.  And those deficits do not stop.  Over the next five years, the federal government will add another $5 trillion to the national debt.  That is unsustainable.  There is simply not enough money in the world to pay for all of these debts without raising interest rates or devaluing the currency (or both).  We owe it to our children and grandchildren to stop these ‘spend-and-borrow’ policies that weaken our economy at the expense of China and other powers.”

“To reduce the deficit, we should return the nearly $900 billion in unused TARP and stimulus funds which is currently being designated for more government spending.  The President’s budget freeze for discretionary spending in FY 2011 should start this fiscal year, and the freeze should be set at 2008 spending levels (before the President’s spending surge in his inaugural year).  We also need a balanced budget amendment, a line-item veto, and a bipartisan willingness to confront all aspects of the federal budget – not just discretionary spending.”