Georgia Rep. Paul C. Broun calls for lowering the debt ceiling

By Bernie Quigley

For The Hill on 7/7/11

Will President Obama default to the 14th Amendment on the debt ceiling and ignore Congress? Could bring problems. Sen. Jim DeMint says he’s ready to accept problems including “serious disruptions” to the economy. But U.S. Rep. Paul C. Broun of Georgia is upping the ante. In National Review Online yesterday he called for lowering the debt ceiling.

“Today, I introduced a unique bill that goes in a completely different direction than everything else we’ve been hearing out of Washington. It would force politicians to start practicing what they’ve been preaching by lowering the debt ceiling from $14.3 trillion back down to $13 trillion,” he writes. “Admittedly, this is not your run-of-the-mill kind of law, but it would make it imperative for Congress to think outside of the box and come up with ways to pay off a portion of our debt while drastically cutting back spending. Since 1996, the national debt has increased by an inexcusable $8.79 trillion. I firmly believe that this calls for emergency measures to reduce the debt.

“In the midst of our economic emergency, which is beginning to resemble a full-on Greece-style meltdown, every politician in America has taken to the soap box to say the exact same thing: We need to reduce our national debt and cut spending to get America back on track, he says. Unfortunately, Congress has produced all talk — and very, very little action.”

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are equally responsible for the government’s past fiscal irresponsibility, says Broun. Sadly, whenever Congress has been given a chance to make a real impact on the budget, our spending habits, and our nation’s livelihood, Democrats and Republicans alike have caved.

“Moreover, in this time of crisis, liberals are pushing for a $2 trillion increase in our debt ceiling. And their only answer for our financial fiasco is to cut nothing and raise taxes on everything — which would simply give Washington more money to burn through. Even more disturbingly, under the president’s budget proposal, the debt would double to $26.3 trillion by 2021, and he has no intention or plan to pay it down.”

Should his legislation be signed into law, Broun says Washington would have to get serious about making the cuts they’ve been talking about, and our national debt would be one step closer to being manageable. His legislation would not just slow down, or stop the reckless spending train; it would completely turn it around.
“To be realistic, we can’t lower the debt limit today, but if we set a deadline, the beginning of FY 2012, it would force politicians to make those decisions in the months to come.”