There is no greater issue than the national debt that puts the future of our country in peril.  Four years ago I wrote a great deal of a national debt that had taken six years to grow from $5 to $6 trillion, two years to increase from $6 to $7 trillion, and only one year to surpass the threshold of $8 trillion under Republican leadership.  During the last week of January our Congress raised the national debt limit at the request of our new Democratic Administration to $14 trillion, and it will need to be raised again before the end of March.

The yearly budget deficit that adds to the national debt is projected to be in the range of $1.3 trillion for the foreseeable future.  But even that number is misleading in that it does not include the continuing buildup of unfounded liabilities in Social Security and Medicare.  If those numbers were to be included in the yearly budget deficit, the addition to our National Debt would be in the range of $5.3 trillion dollars.

The servicing of the debt is a non-discretionary line item in our budget just like a rent or mortgage payment in our individual family’s monthly expenses.  Four years ago, the interest payment on the debt was the 3rd largest expenditure in the National Budget – today it runs a bit more than $4 billion a week.

At no time in our Nation’s history has such a heavy burden been placed on future generations.  Frankly, it represents “taxation without representation” as our children and grandchildren have no input into today’s expenditures but will carry the full weight of the spending frenzy our “leaders” have been engaged in for a long time.

The cure is NOT simply raising revenues because 1) tax increases hurt business expansions and the economy in general as government feels it can make better decisions than you as to how your money is spent, and 2) historically for every $1 generated in tax increases, Washington has allocated $1.29 in new spending.

Just as we must cut back on our household budgets when finances get tight, Washington MUST do as well – rather than continuing spending as usual.  As your Senator, I will work to achieve concurrence on the following:

• Expose and stop all earmarks,
• Encourage the President to carry out his election promise to veto ALL bills which include earmarks,
• Cease all Federal bailouts for large or small businesses,
• Regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and eliminate the “blank check” recently awarded them,
• Take unspent TARP Funds and all returned monies, and deposit to the General Fund to reduce the National Debt,
• A 10% across the board budget cuts for all Departments,
• Eliminate duplication of efforts, waste, and fraud among all Federal agencies,
• Mandate that ALL new initiatives must include financing methods which will not increase the Federal deficit – “pay-as-you-go” (PAYGO)
• Address the shortfall in Social Security and Medicare, and reconcile solutions that will deal with short term and long term funding,
• Elimination of the Department of Education and rein in the size of the Department of Energy.

Please Note:   I make the commitment to all Ohioans to work diligently for the items listed above, but I will be only one vote in the Senate so I need your help.  We will discuss all the action steps at each of the town hall meetings and establish plans to garner support and push ahead with the agenda.