McConnell Condemns Deficit

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell comments on the Congressional Budget Office's new numbers on the deficit. The newest numbers from the non-partisan CBO are the scariest yet.

“The alarm bells on our nation’s fiscal condition have now become a siren. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office reports the deficit for this year alone is already nearly as high as the last five years—combined—and is only getting bigger. And, if anyone had any doubts that this burden on future generations is unsustainable, they’re gone. Spending, borrowing and debt are out of control. Even the President’s own advisors acknowledge that the deficit in the coming years will be trillions more than projected just a few months ago.

“The massive national debt threatens long term fiscal health as a nation, our national security and our ability to meet our commitments to seniors, veterans and working families. There are two immediate steps we should take. We should review the trillion dollars in borrowed stimulus money with an eye towards applying it to paying off the federal credit card. And we must take the bipartisan step of reforming entitlements to strengthen the fiscal state of our existing commitments.”

McConnell is right about the stimulus money: the sum was too vast for the Obama administration to spend quickly enough to actually stimulate the economy. Therefore, it's time to play Indian-giver and take the unspent money back.