I was shocked and deeply disappointed that the House Republicans were unable to pass the Republican Study Committee's measure that was designed to show seriousness in tackling our country's horrific financial situation (as serious as you can call cutting 7% of the DEFICIT mind you, not the overall budget -- I don't know your views, but a 7% cut to the DEFICIT seems pretty piddling to me), and increase the cuts to $100bn.
Please, please tell me that we have new vision in the Republican party that isn't going to continue down the path of being "Democrat Lite"?!? Now is the perfect time to seize the initiative and do the right thing by our children and grandchildren and get this so-far failed generation off their backs and out of their pocketbooks.
As I have stated in previous correspondence to you, I believe it is irresponsible and immoral for our government to spend more than it takes in revenue. You say on your website: "As a fiscal conservative, I will continue to restrain discretionary spending." But then you say "...while still allocating sufficient funding levels to meet the needs of our American communities."
Firstly, discretionary spending is but a small part of the overall financial mess. Let's stipulate that we both understand that fact. For emphasis: Discretionary spending is about 19% of the budget. 19% of $4 trillion is about $760 bn. How much is the projected deficit? $1.5 TRILLION. So, ELIMINATING ALL DISCRETIONARY SPENDING STILL DOES NOT BALANCE THE BUDGET. So, am I to understand from your website that you're perfectly OK with the federal government spending more than it takes in revenue?
Secondly, where in the constitution is it required that the federal government "meet the needs of our American communities?" Nowhere. And let me explain why: In everything it has done (save WWII), the federal government has demonstrated itself to be entirely inept: Nobody pretends Social Security is a going concern anymore; Medicare/Medicaid is a financial disaster; the Department of Education has failed miserably; the EPA is focused like a laser beam on destroying American industry; "welfare" programs have condemned generations to poverty; Obamacare is a fraud and will ruin our flawed but nonetheless best-in-the-world health care system; immigration is a mess and everybody knows it; the "war on drugs" is a fiasco -- any high school kid can get whatever kinds of drugs his friends tell him he wants, while Mexican drug violence creeps across our borders. I don't believe any of this is news to you.
And we get the House Republicans without even the resolve to cut an additional $22bn from the DEFICIT? I knew this was going to happen. I just KNEW it!! The Republicans are going to try to better their record of having missed the last few boats by missing the WHOLE DAMNED FLEET!!
I have spoken to many people here in the beautiful community of Lantana. There is a parade forming, and I certainly hope that you have a secret plan to get in front of it, because from where I stand, it looks like you're going to be at the magazine stand two streets over when the music starts playing.
I'm sorry to have to express my frustration in such blunt terms, but these are serious and troubling times. Our elected representatives cannot continue to pretend that everything is going to be fine if we can cut back on expenditures for paper-clips. Entitlements are the SS Titanic Disaster, and those who are too timid to speak out for real reform will get sucked down in the vortex of the hulking wreckage as it slips below the surface of fiscal viability.
Please, Dr. Burgess, can you distinguish yourself by taking a strong and unambiguous stand about the need for getting in order the federal government's entire fiscal house? Otherwise, you're simply rearranging deck-chairs while the band plays on, and that doesn't end well.
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