Republican Congressional lawmakers are pledging to push for legislation to balance the US budget as the federal government’s debt soars.
Last May, it was reported that the US was spending more on debt interest payments than on its military for the first time in history.
Scholar Niall Ferguson recently warned the US’ debt issues could potentially cause its demise -- as it did for other states in the past.
Texas Republican Representative Randy Weber spoke to The Floridian’s Javier Manjarres about the national debt, expressing support for initiatives to reduce it.
“It’s time we got around and balanced the budget,” said Representative Weber. “Our debt is almost 37 trillion, don't you think it's time that we got in here and fix that?”
Weber criticized Democrats for allegedly refusing to cooperate on budget-balancing due to the fiscal “pain” that he foresees balancing initiatives would have on Americans.
“Yes, there's going to be a little pain for everybody and the Democrats don't get that,” said Weber, adding that it is nonetheless “time to cut the waste.”
Florida Republican Representatives Anna Paulina Luna and Mike Haridopolos echoed a similar sentiment.
Representative Luna claimed she would support debt-reducing measures “in a second.”
“Last time we had a balanced budget was during Clinton,” said Luna. “I think most people want us to do that, so the excuse that we can't do that is a farce.”
Some conservatives have floated the idea of preventing the national government from incurring debt by adding a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution.
Representative Haridopolos hailed the balanced budget amendment idea, stating that “if I have one goal in my time in Congress is to pass a balanced budget amendment.”
Haridopolos added that growing the economy would enable an easier road to a balanced budget, but that” tough calls” would have to be made on welfare programs.
For Haridopolos, a balanced budget “means making tough calls and not giving away money to groups like NGOs and so forth.”
