Arkansas’ newly elected senator, John Boozman, made his maiden speech – his first one, in other words – on the Senate floor today.
In it, he identifies the national debt as the greatest threat facing Americans today.
He said, “We cannot continue to add billions to our already staggering national debt. This year alone, the federal government will spend $3.7 trillion while only collecting $2.2 trillion. It doesn’t take an advanced math degree to understand that 3 is greater than 2.
“The average American family doesn’t have the luxury to spend beyond its means. Their government shouldn’t, and doesn’t, either. ”
Right on. Unfortunately, here is the eye doctor’s primary prescription – a balanced budget amendment.
“The only way will we get a handle on this situation is to reform the manner in which we budget and allocate federal dollars. It’s time we put mechanisms in place to stop the government from spending beyond its means.
“This is why one of the first bills I signed my name onto after taking the oath of office was Senator Richard Shelby’s balanced budget amendment. Senator Shelby has been a champion on this front for a number of years, introducing this bill every session of Congress since 1987. Imagine what the country would look like if it had passed when he first proposed it. Now, more than ever, it is an idea that’s time has come and I look forward to working with the Senator from Alabama to get some sort of spending cap like a balanced budget amendment passed.
“This is a catalyst for change. It holds us to spending limits and forces changes in the manner in which taxpayer money is allocated.”
No, it doesn’t. It just means Congress would have to work harder to find ways around the law to keep spending money the country doesn’t have.
The only way to address what Sen. Boozman calls the country’s greatest threat is for Congress to spend less in areas where it doesn’t want to spend less – Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the military. That’s where the money is.
Sen. Boozman did not address those issues, but that’s OK for now. At least he has correctly identified the problem. Now let’s encourage him to work on the solutions.