E-Newsletter

Balancing the budget

The federal government is in a money crunch. No secret there; it’s on TV, in the newspaper, and broadcast over the radio. However, you don’t often hear of long term solutions and systemic changes to the way Washington spends your taxpayer dollars. The national debt is pushing the set limit and there is real concern about the future of our nation. People always ask me what we can do to prevent the government from spending money we do not have. One thing we need to do is to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution that would force the federal government to live within its means.

A Balanced Budget Amendment would require Congress to eliminate wasteful and excessive spending. I am a co-sponsor of two proposed amendments introduced by Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), which would require that total spending for any fiscal year not exceed total receipts, unless authorized by a greater vote than is currently required by law. Running nearly a $1.5 trillion deficit, like we are predicted to do this year, would not be an option. Absent serious spending reforms, like a Balanced Budget Amendment, I do not believe Washington will change the way it spends your money and in a few years we will be right back where we started from. “Another day older and deeper in debt.”* By significantly cutting spending and implementing a Balanced Budget Amendment, we can give job creators the confidence in our economy they need to jumpstart growth and start hiring.

In Washington, a balanced budget is a foreign concept. The thought of spending, without creating a deficit, is considered strange and unusual. However, most states, including Virginia, have some form of a balanced budget provision. As Majority Leader in the Virginia House of Delegates, I have seen firsthand how a balanced budget works. In the bad times, we knew we had to make the cuts. The decisions were hard, but it is not supposed to be easy. Because of the balanced budget and conservative spending, Virginia is not facing the massive debt crisis our nation is right now because we didn’t have the luxury of letting the debt pile up for the next generation to pay either through high taxes or high inflation. Washington desperately needs these same rules if we are going to tame the spending beast!

This is not without precedent. In 1995, a Balanced Budget Amendment failed to pass Congress by one vote in the Senate.  Imagine how different our reality would be if we had not racked up enormous debt for the last 16 years. We have the chance to pass the kind of systemic spending reform we need if the Senate is willing to stand with the House and fight to fix our spending problem. As President Reagan said on other issues, and now President Obama has said on our debt issue, if not now, when?

EPA’s job killing agenda strikes again

It comes as no surprise, but on July 7, the EPA finalized the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, yet another attack on American jobs by the EPA. According to the EPA, this rule will impact 3,642 electric generating units at 1,081 facilities in the U.S. What exactly is the EPA’s purpose under the Obama Administration? Is it to create uncertainty in the economy, kill jobs, and increase electricity rates? It would seem that way. In Southwest Virginia, a number of jobs will be lost because of costly regulations on coal-fired power plants. However, it’s not just the jobs at the power plants. This rule, compounded with other proposed EPA rules, could potentially increase electricity rates by 10-15 percent. With unemployment reaching 9.2 percent in June, increased costs will make it even harder for small businesses to keep the lights on and create jobs. Instead of regulations that stall our economic recovery, the EPA should focus on common sense rules that protect jobs and encourage economic growth. The EPA argues health concerns as their purpose, but they are not tackling the increased foreign pollution in our air. Nor are they considering the negative health effects of not being able to stay warm in the winter when the high cost of heat, caused by the EPA and their allies, makes it so you cannot afford to heat your home. We not only need a balanced budget, but we need a balance between the EPA’s environmental protections and the need for jobs.

July Traveling Staff Office Hours

To better serve you, throughout the month, members of my staff will be holding traveling offices hours around the 9th District. To see the dates, times, and locations of upcoming office hours, please visit www.morgangriffith.house.gov.

As always, if you have concerns or comments or wish to inquire about legislative issues, feel free to contact my offices. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov.

*From the song "Sixteen Tons” written by County Music Hall of Fame inductee Merle Travis