Last week, I joined dozens of my colleagues from the House and the Senate at a press conference urging President Biden to work with us and start negotiating a responsible solution to our nation’s debt limit crisis.
For weeks, Speaker McCarthy has been asking the President to sit down with him to negotiate, but President Biden refused. Finally last week, just 15 days before the debt ceiling deadline, President Biden agreed to start negotiations.
This comes well after House Republicans passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act to address this crisis because we’ve listened to the American people and understand that we have a duty to pay our debts and make much-needed cuts to big government spending.
It’s no secret our debt is out of control. Less than 15 years ago, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs warned the greatest threat to America was not China or Russia, but it was our national debt.
When he said this in 2010, our debt was $14 trillion. Today, it’s more than double what it was when he gave this warning.
Our debt is larger than our economy by more than 20%, and we are set to pay more in interest on this debt in the next 10 years than we’ve paid in the last 83 years. If we do nothing, we will default on this debt. Imagine if you spent 20% more than you made year after year – this is essentially what the federal government has been doing, and it’s irresponsible.
It’s easy to point fingers at who’s responsible for this debt, and the reality is both parties shoulder some of the blame for our past spending. The difference is House Republicans have passed a bill to fix this problem, but the president and his allies in Congress have refused to work with us.
Our Limit, Save, Grow Act would save Americans $4.8 trillion over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, end the era of reckless Washington spending, reclaim billions in unspent COVID funds, defund Biden’s army of IRS agents, repeal “Green New Deal” tax credits, block Biden’s student loan giveaway to the wealthy, and strengthen our workforce.
House Republicans are united behind a common goal: get our nation’s spending under control, pay off our debts in a responsible manner, grow our economy, and put America back on track so our grandkids aren’t saddled with an unbelievable amount of debt.
This shouldn’t be controversial and it’s the right thing to do.
We just need President Biden to get serious and work with us.
Jerry Carl represents Alabama’s First Congressional District. He lives in Mobile with his wife Tina.
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