Fiscal Responsibility

Increasing our water supply and investing in Valley communities are critical to renewing our economy. However, long-term and sustainable growth also relies on getting our nation’s fiscal house in order.

According to the nonpartisan Peterson-Pew Commission on Budget Reform, publicly held debt reached $7.6 trillion in 2009 and will double over the next 10 years if action is not taken.  At that point, interest on the debt will comprise such a large share of the federal budget that we will no longer be able to invest in priorities such as education, transportation and national security.

As a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, I have joined with other members of Congress to restore more responsible budgeting and spending practices to government. One of our biggest accomplishments was passing legislation known as statutory-pay-as-you-go (PAYGO). PAYGO requires that spending increases must be fully paid for, not passed on to future generations. This policy helped turn deficits into record surpluses in the 1990s and should never have been repealed in the last decade. Enforcing this measure is vital to putting our economy on the right path.

Just as no single reason led to the deep deficits now facing our country, there are no silver bullets or quick fixes to getting our country back on track. Putting our fiscal house in order will take hard work and tough decisions. This means reviewing and terminating unnecessary federal programs; ending expensive policies that encourage companies to ship American jobs overseas; and eliminating so much of the fraud, waste, and abuse draining our government’s resources.

As Americans, we must be honest about our long-term economic obligations and work together to get the job done. To learn more about some of the measures I have supported to help increase accountability and fiscal responsibility, you can visit the Blue Dog website here.