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Smith Report 12.26.2013

Budget Deal is the Wrong Deal
Last week the House of Representatives voted on a budget compromise that set spending levels for the next two years. While I believe Congress must pass a budget, I ultimately could not support this compromise plan that immediately raises new revenues without giving immediate attention to Washington’s spending addiction and our massive national debt.
Leaders in Washington need to realize what families in Missouri already know: Congress has a serious spending problem. Only in Washington would the solution to a $17 trillion national debt be more government spending. We must start paying down our national debt. Most folks do not realize that the debt ceiling has been raised 74 times since 1962. In that time frame our national debt has gone from under $1 trillion to the staggering $17 trillion. Washington needs to stop spending money that we simply do not have.
Another reason I voted against the budget compromise are the changes made to veteran’s benefits. Our men and women in uniform deserve unwavering support from every Member of Congress and all Americans. It is wrong to balance budgets on the backs of troops who voluntarily put themselves in harm’s way so that we can all be free. The livelihood of our troops should not be negotiable.
During my campaign for Congress, I promised families in Missouri’s Eighth District that I would fight to change the way Washington does business. My vote against the budget compromise, does just that. This vote will not make me the most popular guy in Washington, but I am more concerned with the $52,870 share of the national debt already burdening every man, woman and child in America.
While I appreciate the time and effort that went into crafting this budget deal, I could not support this plan because it immediately increases spending without immediately reducing the deficit. Simply put this agreement raises revenue and spends more money. I would much rather see the automatic spending cuts from the Budget Control Act exchanged for targeted spending cuts instead of being traded for more revenue. Washington has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.