News of billions and trillions of dollars in new spending reminds us that Washington still has not figured out how to solve its spending problem. Congress keeps proving the old anonymous quote- “The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.”

The first step to solving any problem is recognizing that you have a problem. The only conversation in Washington has been about how quickly money can be spent. That’s the kind of thinking that led to $200 million of stimulus money being earmarked to plant grass on the National Mall. That provision, along with hundreds of millions in wasteful spending, was eventually stripped from the bill.

Last week, the President brought his Cabinet in and asked them to find $100 million dollars in savings. I agree with the President that the federal government needs to tighten its belt. However, we should not stop at $100 million. That is the equivalent of a family that makes $60,000 a year finding $6 in savings. We can and need to do more.

This year’s fiscal budget is over $4 trillion dollars with a deficit of over $1 trillion. There is plenty of waste, fraud and abuse in a budget that size. While $100 million is a good start, it is only a start.

I am ready to take a hard look at spending and make the tough choices that will be required. I hope that the Administration will work in a bi-partisan way to bring our budget back into balance.

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