WASHINGTON   –  “You and I and everyone we know has a debt limit: the maximum amount of money we can borrow on credit.  It might be a mortgage, a credit card, or a car loan.  Wisely, we do not spend more than we can afford to pay back.

The federal government has a debt limit, too, but with one very distinct difference from the debt limits for you and me: Congress decides how high that limit can go, and there is nothing wise about the amount of spending issued by the federal government these days.

One such vote of the Congress took place in late 2009, when the federal government’s debt limit went up by $290 billion – enough to fund maybe three months of the new spending that has been implemented in the last three years.  But a bigger vote is looming, when the Obama Administration will seek to issue another $1.9 trillion in American debt.

This action runs contrary to the rhetoric of the day, that a freeze on federal discretionary spending for the next three years will bring federal budgets back into line.  Even if congressional liberals are willing to allow such a measure to become law, the discretionary portion of the budget (minus exemptions for the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs to increase their spending) is overshadowed by an enormous and rapidly growing budget for mandatory spending.

Mandatory spending – including large accounts for Medicare and Social Security – are expected to begin to run in the red soon.  We need commonsense reforms that do not cut benefits. Otherwise, Americans who have paid into these programs their entire working lives will be faced with far tougher choices, and our children will be without a critical safety net we ourselves have been fortunate to depend upon.

Finally, the spending freeze touted by the president loses a lot of its luster when the American people consider that spending for many federal programs (including the dastardly stimulus) is up nearly 100 percent this year over last year.  With increases like those and obscene federal budget deficits, a freeze on a small portion of spending doesn’t seem like nearly enough.

I heard someone else put it this way: it’s like going on a diet right after you’ve won a pie-eating contest.

Here is the unfortunate truth: this Congress and this Administration continue to spend tax dollars we do not have.  The poor spending decisions being made by the federal government are bloating the bureaucracy – not creating jobs, strengthening our infrastructure or making wise use of the taxpayers’ hard-earned dollar.  Until we get serious about reforming spending, we should not put another penny into job-crushing ideas like health care reforms that actually increase health care costs, energy taxes that do irreversible damage to American jobs and families, and federal budgets that bloat government and shrink the economy.

It all starts by putting a lid on the debt.  Talk is truly cheap, and the vote on raising the debt limit will prove whether Congress is serious about changing its ways.  For my part, I intend to vote our Southern Missouri district, as well as our conscience for future American generations.  I will vote to keep the federal debt exactly where it is today, and I will keep working to reduce this number, which has gotten way out of control.”