John Culberson – U.S. House of Representatives

The United States is facing an urgent financial crisis that threatens our fiscal and economic stability. Our government is currently borrowing about 50 cents for every dollar we spend. Common sense says you don’t pay off borrowed money with borrowed money. Medicare is already paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes and Social Security is expected to do the same in less than five years. The total unfunded liabilities for the United States are $60.6 trillion, which exceeds the net worth of America. Paying off this liability, would require every American to write a check to the Treasury Department for $198,000.

The “solution” President Obama and the liberal leadership in Congress are pursuing is more spending and higher taxes. In less than seven months, they have spent more than $3.6 trillion of our tax dollars, leading to the highest spending levels since World War II. They have exploded the national debt to over $11 trillion, setting a record deficit of $1.8 trillion for 2009 – four times larger than the previous high. Never before have so few spent so much in so little time.

Recent analysis by the Heritage Foundation shows that District 7 residents will bear the brunt of the tax increases in President Obama’s budget. Our district ranks 9th out of 435 congressional districts in total projected tax increase in the country. District 7 is projected to be taxed over $779 million more under President Obama’s budget. This is not the only cost to our district. The outstanding public debt of the United States is currently over $11.3 trillion, and each District 7 resident owes $36,900 as their individual share of the debt.

As a staunch fiscal conservative, I strenuously opposed these epic spending and tax increases. I voted against bills costing $2.5 trillion this year, and against $2.3 trillion under the Bush Administration.  We are a nation in debt and cannot continue writing checks when our bank account is overdrawn.  I am an original cosponsor of the Balanced Budget Amendment, which would amend the Constitution and force the federal government to live within its means – just as American families do.

In addition to the Balanced Budget Amendment, I supported a budget alternative that would cut taxes and reduce spending. It is time to let Americans keep more of what they earn and for the government to spend less. It is time to start trusting and empowering individual Americans instead of the federal government. By taking these steps, our economy will see the growth and prosperity that have defined America for generations.

I have supported the following legislation in the 111th Congress:

•    I became an original cosponsor of Mr. Goodlatte’s Balance Budget Constitutional Amendment, which requires that Congress not spend more than it receives in revenues, requires the President to submit a balanced budget to Congress, and requires a 3/5 majority to increase the debt limit.  A Constitutional amendment will force Congress to eliminate unnecessary and wasteful spending and make the decisions necessary to balance the budget and eliminate the federal deficit.

•    I signed on as an original cosponsor to Congressman Linder’s Fair Tax Act.  This act eliminates all Federal income-related taxes, such as personal and corporate income taxes, the payroll tax, the capital gains tax, the self-employment tax, and the death tax; and replaces them with a transparent 23 percent personal consumption tax on new goods and services.

•    I became a cosponsor of H.R. 205, the Death Tax Repeal Act.  This bill repeals the federal estate and gift taxes.  A Joint Economic Committee (JEC) study found that family-run firms and farms particularly feel the grip of the estate tax, because they are less likely to have the liquid resources needed to meet their estate tax liabilities.  JEC estimates that the death tax has reduced the stock of capital in the economy by about $847 billion.  Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the former Congressional Budget Office director, estimates in a new study that the economy would create roughly 1.3 million more small business jobs with no death tax rather than with President Obama’s planned 45% rate.

•    I signed on as an original cosponsor to Congressman Louie Gohmert’s bill to provide a two-month suspension of employment and income taxes.  This bill would also eliminate Treasury’s remaining bailout authority.  This bill would cost a fraction of the Wall Street bailout and would provide immediate tax relief to American families.  This bill provides a timely economic stimulus for the American people.

•   I cosponsored H.R. 470, the Economic Recovery and Middle-Class Tax Relief Act.  This bill would bring fast-acting tax relief to working families and businesses and that would produce twice as many jobs at about half the cost of liberal majority’s $787 billion stimulus bill.

•    I became an original cosponsor of H.R. 1557, the SAFE commission Act.  This bill creates a national bipartisan, 16-member commission aimed at getting the nation’s long-term fiscal house in order.  Congress would be required to vote up or down on the panel’s proposals to improve our nation’s financial health.