Thursday's letters: It's a spending problem

Last Modified: Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 3:08 p.m.

Why is Congress mistrusted? How about the fact that it named the fiscal cliff agreement the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, and it raised taxes on virtually every single working American? That kind of blatant dishonesty is so transparent to everybody but the politicians, I wonder if there is something about the Potomac River that just sucks the IQ out of anybody who crosses it.

Congress passed a bill that raises taxes on almost everybody for a total of about $62 billion a year. That's 1.6 percent of the budget. We are already borrowing 40 percent of what we spend. So anyone who pays even a little bit of attention to this issue knows we can't fix the budget problem with just tax increases.

This proves we don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem. Our politicians deal with people every day who have their hands out, wanting taxpayer money. And by giving it to them, they increase their power and influence, thus getting re-elected because they can “bring home the bacon.”

So how do we get the government we can afford? I believe that once we elect people who think more of America than of their own re-election, we then pass a balanced budget amendment and congressional term limits. Bringing the budget into balance would mean the politicians would actually have to make some hard choices, and having term limits would mean the end of career politicians like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell. Just getting rid of those three alone would raise the collective IQ of Washington.

The late Sen. Everett Dirksen once said, “When I feel the heat, I see the light.” I believe it's past time that we the people turn up the heat on our elected officials.

Noel Swain



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