When Republicans passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017, they promised to address Washington's out-of-control spending in the next legislative session.
“We're going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit,” then-House Speaker Paul Ryan said during an appearance on Ross Kaminsky's talk radio show. "... Frankly, it's the health care entitlements that are the big drivers of our debt, so we spend more time on the health care entitlements — because that's really where the problem lies, fiscally speaking.”
Ryan was right that the feds need to cut spending (though they should start with federal waste, not health care spending), but Republicans refused to act. Instead, they went in the opposite direction and increased spending while simultaneously decreasing revenue.
That trend has continued, and this month the feds set a new spending record: $3 trillion in the first eight months of the fiscal year, breaking the record set by President Obama in 2009.
According to CNS News:
For the first time in the history of the United States, the federal government has spent more than $3 trillion in the first eight months of the fiscal year, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released today.
The record $3,013,541,000,000 that the federal government spent in October through May of fiscal 2019 was $181,157,920,000 more than the previous record of $2,832,383,080,000 (in constant May 2019 dollars) that the federal government spent in October through May of fiscal 2009.
This is totally unsustainable. Tax cuts are a good thing because it gives Washington less opportunity to waste taxpayer money. But unless we want to continue towards the fiscal cliff, we have to address the federal government's out-of-control spending.
Unfortunately, Congress doesn't have the will or the courage to cut spending. Members don't want to risk reelection, so they maintain irresponsible fiscal policies without thought to how these policies might affect future generations.
The Founders knew this might happen. They knew that the national Congress might one day refuse to fix our nation's most pressing problems, so they empowered the states and the people to take matters into their own hands.
They included in Article V of the Constitution a way for the states to call a Convention for the purpose of proposing constitutional amendments. These amendments can, among other things, impose fiscal restraints on Congress, restraints that mandate fiscally responsible policies like a balanced budget and real, binding spending caps.
Congress won't act on its own. That much is clear. But the people and the states can force their hand with a Convention of States, and millions have joined the movement.
Sign the Petition below to urge your state legislator to support this constitutional solution to an out-of-control federal government.
