Dear Fiscal Conservatives,

President Obama recently vowed on national TV that he wouldn’t negotiate with Congress on the debt ceiling.  He also didn’t hesitate to ridicule the House Republicans in campaign style rallies.  President Obama also recently went on TV saying he will negotiate with Russia but he still refuses to negotiate with Republicans.

When it comes to dealing with House Republicans, president Obama is strategic, forceful and determined.  He is not afraid to throw punches.  Where were all these leadership traits when we needed them for Syria …for Benghazi?!

President Obama insists that the debt ceiling doesn’t actually incur more debt – he says it’s necessary to pay bills that have already been racked up by Congress.  Here is THE quote from him, “All it does is it says you got to pay the bills that you’ve already racked up, Congress.”  That’s interesting.

What President Obama is saying is, that if you are about to hit the credit limit of your credit card, you should call your bank immediately and demand they increase your credit limit because you have already committed to buy that extra pair of shoes from Macy’s.

It is a bill that you already racked up according to the president, so your bank should just be happy to comply with your request!

Yes, as responsible taxpayers we know that wouldn’t work.  Yet our president insists this is how it does work!  Please Mr. President, explain HOW this is not a spending problem??

Tell Congress we know they are acting irresponsibility and they must have a real debate about the best way to prioritize how TAXPAYER DOLLARS ARE TO BE SPENT at every level! We don’t want them to vote another debt ceiling increase without a plan to reduce government spending!

The Senate hasn’t passed a budget in 4 years! 

And why might that be?  Because the Democrats are saying that a budget isn’t even necessary anymore.  While, they admit that the budget would provide a long-term framework for spending and revenue, politicians don’t actually have to pass one.

“The fact is that you don’t need a budget,” Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said last year. “We can adopt appropriation bills and we can adopt authorization policies without a budget.”

So, while the Senate is legally required to pass a budget, there is no penalty for not doing so.  And here we go again – another budget battle looming.  We have politicians and not representatives!

We didn’t have national debt ceiling until 1917. Prior to 1917, Congress actually had to review and grant specific authority to the US Treasury for specific amount of borrowing for specific purpose.  Yes, in those good old days, people in Congress actually took their fiscal responsibility seriously and government couldn’t just spend whatever they want to.

In 1917, debt ceiling was initially established to accommodate the uncertain spending needs of World War One.  Since then, instead of review each spending request diligently, Congress just rubber stamped every debt ceiling increase for over a hundred times! Do you think either Visa or Mastercard will increase your credit card limit a hundred times with no questions asked?

CONGRESS - WE HAVE A SPENDING PROBLEM.  YOU MUST STOP OUT OF CONTROL SPENDING NOW! 

Each year, the government is spending more than it takes in. We, as families, can’t live that way or we go bankrupt.  Tell Congress to stop pushing America into bankruptcy! 

The gap between the revenue and spending is financed by issuing debt.  Our current national debt is about $16.69 trillion and has continued to grow an average of $1.90 billion per day.  

Do you know that the debt ceiling doesn’t just cover foreign borrowing; it also covers domestic spending such as social welfare programs?

Yes, you as a responsible citizen have been working hard, saving diligently and managing your household spending prudently.  But do you realize that no matter how thrift you are, as a US citizen, your share of the debt is $52,869.55 and it continues growing?

The US median household income is $51,371. That means that 50% of the people in this country make less than their share of the national debt. So the actual share of debt for the other half of Americans is an even bigger number than the estimate of $52,869.55.

This means that you can work for a year and forgo all your income and still won’t be able to cover your share of the national debt!

You can forget about your secured retirement or the belief that you children and grand children will live a better life than you. Our national debt is simply a monster due to an over-reaching, over-spending government.

Send a Fax to Congress. Let them know that American people do not want Washington to continue business as usual. Let them know that they need to all take the budget bill from the House seriously. American people do not want the Senators just to send the House Bill back. The Senate needs to sit down with the House of Representatives and have serious discussion about the budget, the debt ceilings and the spending.

We the People want to have a serious national debate about debt ceiling and how to rein excessive spending. 

We do not wish to postpone this discussion indefinitely.  The right time to do right thing is always right now.

Someone once said that, “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure.  America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership.  Americans deserve better.” Very well said indeed.  Do you know who said it?  Senator Obama!!  He actually refused to approve a debt-limit increase in 2006 without a plan to reduce the deficit.

I agree with then Senator Obama that Americans deserves better. We deserve better leadership.  We DO NOT need a leader who can just deliver hot words with cold deeds.  We need someone who can act as the adult in the room and refuse to kick the fiscal can down the road.  We need someone who is less concerned about being liked or making speeches, but someone who is not afraid to take on a difficult task.  We need a leader who is less concerned about political score keeping for him and his party but more concerned about doing something that is truly good for American people! We need a leader who charges first in an uphill battle, not lead from behind.  

We need a leader who says what he means AND means what he says.

FAX your house of representatives.   Let them know that American people support the latest House budget bill. Let them know you support their proposal to defund Obamacare.  Tell them they finally move towards the right direction for fiscal responsibility.  Our constitution grants the House of Representatives the authority to control our national purse.  They need to take their job seriously.  

We don’t want Congress to just rubber stamp every debt ceiling increase.  And yes, you don’t want them to vote another debt ceiling increase without a plan to reduce government spending.

FAX your Senators.  Let them know that American people don’t want Washington to continue business as usual. Let them know that they need to take the budget bill from the House seriously.  American people do not want the Senators just to send the House Bill back.  The Senate needs to sit down with the House of Representatives and have serious discussion about the budget, the debt ceilings and the spending.

FAX CONGRESS and tell them to perform their basic responsibilities!  Tell them we need to get out of this crisis after crisis firefighting with Continuing Resolutions!  We need a budget to know where we are going and how we will get there!

Also, please tell your Congressmen, your senators and the White House: if they are going to grant another automatic debt ceiling increase, you will demand an increase of your credit limit.  No questions asked.

Sincerely,

Joe Otto


Conservative Daily