In The News

Posted: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 12:05 am | Updated: 8:10 am, Wed Mar 13, 2013.

Column by Rep. Scott Perry

I made the decision to run for Congress last year because I’m worried that the America I help to pass on to my two daughters will be fundamentally weaker than the one I and other Americans of my generation inherited. Those same concerns have been shared with me by dozens of constituents, of all political affiliations, during my first two months in office.

Our economy is stuck in neutral and wages remain flat, while health care and other costs keep skyrocketing.  The federal government has run up an unsustainable debt of $16.5 trillion and rising. Nearly 40 cents of every dollar we spend is borrowed – and most of it from China.  Twelve million Americans – young parents, seniors, veterans and recent college graduates – still are looking for work.

I don’t pretend to have a monopoly on good ideas to address these issues. What I do know is that most of the choices won’t be easy and it will take engaged Americans and leadership from our elected officials to turn the corner. The days of kicking the can down the road to our kids and grandkids are over.

We’ve made some tough choices already. Defense spending has been reduced by more than $500 billion over the next decade. The recently implemented sequester will reduce federal spending by another $1.2 trillion over the next decade, including further defense cuts. Although I support giving more flexibility in how the sequester reductions are achieved, we should permanently adopt the lower spending levels.

To finish the job, we need to have an honest discussion with the American people about how we spend their hard-earned tax dollars. About 60% of federal spending is dedicated to mandatory spending programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and interest on the debt – and that percentage is growing rapidly.  Defense comprises about 20% of federal spending.  Discretionary spending (i.e., education, energy and housing) make up most of the rest.

Is there waste to be found? Absolutely.  We can do without sending $27 million to Morocco to train Moroccans to create pottery designs, or spending $325,000 on robotic squirrels to test their interactions with snakes, or the $1.5 billion we spend for subsidized cell phone services. We certainly can do a much better job of spending your hard-earned tax dollars effectively and efficiently.  However, many of the choices left on the table aren’t so cut and dry. Foreign aid is routinely cited as an item to be cut; I’m all for putting that on the table for review, but it’s about 1% of our budget. Some citizens feel we need to ask wealthier Americans to pay more in taxes; yet in January before I began my service in Congress, President Obama signed into law a $650 billion tax increase over the next decade, much of it directed at higher earners. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, these higher earners already are paying among the highest tax rates in over 30 years.  Likewise, the President’s health care law increases taxes by more than $500 billion – again, much of it aimed at businesses and high-income earners.

Washington must stop spending money it doesn’t have and focus its efforts on creating opportunities for job growth.  We can start right now.  Even though 12 million Americans are unemployed, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that millions of job openings remain unfilled. One reason for this is a broken workforce development system.  This week, the House will debate the SKILLS Act, which seeks to consolidate, reform and modernize the maze of federal workforce training programs and help millions of unemployed Americans get back to work.

In two weeks, the House will debate its Fiscal Year 2014 budget, which seeks to make government spending more effective and efficient, thereby saving and strengthening Social Security and Medicare for those who rely on these programs, while protecting young people and children from the tidal wave of unsustainable debt coming their way.

How can you help? If you’ve seen an example of government waste, whether a poor use of taxpayer dollars or an unnecessary regulation that’s hurting your business and your ability to create jobs, let me know about it.  Contact one of my offices or e-mail me through my website (perry.house.gov).  We can work together to make our government more efficient and accountable to each of us, and renew the promise of America for future generations.