This past Wednesday, the United States crossed a very expensive milestone: U.S. national debt exceeded $13 trillion. It is a mind-boggling number. What does this mean for you and your family? The debt per citizen is $42,025 and the debt per taxpayer is an astronomical $117,982.
How did we get here? Years of fiscal mismanagement on the part of both political parties. In the 1990s, Congress successfully balanced the budget, which if we had kept on track, would have slowly eaten away at our debt. Unfortunately, that is not what happened and while Republicans certainly participated in the problem, the last two years have seen an explosion of spending, which I have opposed.
Congress must take a stand now that we will not only rein in the spending Congress has control over, but address the growing problem of entitlement spending which is becoming a larger part of the federal budget pie. Unfortunately, the Pelosi Congress continues to spend with abandon.
Fiscal accountability and responsibility must start sometime, and I believe that time is long overdue. You can be part of the solution through participating in two initiatives: YouCut which gives you an opportunity to vote on what federal programs to cut and America Speaking Out which is an open forum for Americans to speak to their political representation.
I look forward to working with you and Americans across the country to address our fiscal crisis.
Sincerely,
KEN CALVERT
Member of Congress