Today, our national debt stands at over $18 trillion. That is more than $56,500 for every man, woman and child in America.  Looked at another way, it amounts to $225,000 for every family in America.  In January 2009, the month that President Obama took office, the national debt stood at $10.6 trillion.   His latest budget calls for continued deficit spending as far as the eye can see, reaching $25 trillion a decade from now.  There is enough blame to go around for both parties and it is long past due that we curb this appetite for spending money we simply do not have.  The former Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, Mike Mullen, stated in 2011 that the national debt was the greatest threat to our nation.  It is immoral to burden future generations of Americans – our grandchildren and great grandchildren – with debt that this generation incurred.

This level of debt is unsustainable.  It is already harming our economy, slowing economic growth and hampering job creation.   Putting our nation on a sustainable path toward a balanced budget is necessary to create a healthy economy and build a stronger America.  Balancing our budget and paying down the debt will require that we make hard choices about what we can and cannot afford.  In 2015, the federal government took in more in taxes than anytime in our nation’s history.  Clearly, Washington’s problem is not that is does not tax enough, but rather that it has an addiction to spending money it does not have.  It is time to put record spending in check so we can bring our budget into balance.

I oppose raising taxes and believe that we should consider tax reforms that make our tax code more simple and fair.  Simply put, any tax reform initiative should not result in the federal government taking more hard earned money from American workers.