WASHINGTON   –  “The national debt today stands at $11.7 trillion.  I know people in Southern Missouri are used to hearing me harp on the figures, but to put it in perspective, that’s about $38,500 for every man, woman and child in the U.S.A.

This year, the difference between what the federal government has and what it spends is expected to be over $1.8 trillion – four times the deficit our government ran in 2008. 

Right now, the federal debt limit – the maximum amount the United States is allowed under law to issue in debt – is $12.1 trillion.  Congressional approval is required to increase the debt limit, and Treasury Secretary Geithner is expected to ask for that new lending authority in the coming months.

Currently, the U.S. Treasury is borrowing $163.2 billion every week.  Our country borrowed $712.9 billion in July, $743 billion in June, and $773.5 billion in May.  It’s what we expected would happen after the new Congress passed a stimulus bill ($787 billion), passed an omnibus appropriations bill ($410 billion), and issued more lending authority to the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program ($350 billion) in the space of just a few months.

Each time I voted against these measures, I did so not just because the amounts of spending were so enormous, though that would have been a good enough reason in my book.  I also opposed these measures because they represented an expansion of bureaucratic government which are very difficult, if not impossible, to reverse.  In addition, I voted against five of five budget proposals for the coming year.

True to form, the stimulus has trickled out from the federal coffers.  Six months after the measure was signed into law, less than 15 percent of the funding so recklessly pushed through Congress has been spent.  In Missouri, it appears at times the administration should have spent even more time planning grants – such as the Department of Justice’s COPS grants that went to urban areas over rural ones by a ratio of 50 to one.  Likewise, only five percent of the stimulus allocated for transportation infrastructure has been spent in our state – one of the best areas to help our Missouri economy.  Low-priority spending, like $40 million for non-urgent airport improvements by the FAA, further diminishes the reach of these taxpayer funds.  And the misdirection of federal money is not limited to the federal government, either.  The state of Missouri chose to spend part of its stimulus allocation to pay state tax refunds rather than to put the money into school programs for which it was prioritized.

The bigger question has been whether more government spending will improve the economy and prevent further job losses.  I think the resounding answer has been “no.”  National unemployment figures are holding steady and the size of our economy shrunk again last quarter.

These financial challenges cannot be solved by government; they must be solved by people.  And if the American people have a limited government acting in the public interest, I am pretty sure we can remedy the ills gripping our economy much better than if big government simply pushes us out of the way.

Reckless spending will fall heavily on the shoulders of our children and grandchildren, growing and gathering interest.  The only way to relieve them of this burden tomorrow is to act today and pull hard on the reins of big government.”