U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) today voted against the “clean” debt ceiling increase, legislation that would have given Washington a blank check to continue recklessly spending taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars. Luetkemeyer opposed the measure because it failed to implement significant spending cuts and reforms.

“If the president and Democrats want you to pay their bills, they are going to have to cut up the credit cards first, because I am not willing to allow Washington to write blank checks and to continue on a reckless spending binge that puts our families and our nation at huge financial risk,” Luetkemeyer said. “The only way I could consider supporting an increase in the debt limit is if such a move were accompanied by real, substantial spending cuts and fundamental reforms to our nation’s budget in order to reduce our enormous national debt.”

Luetkemeyer understands that American families want Washington to stop spending money that the nation does not have, and to stop sending the bill to our children and grandchildren.

“To create jobs and save our country from national bankruptcy, we must stop spending money we don’t have, because no nation can spend, tax, borrow or bail-out its way to prosperity,” Luetkemeyer said. “Our unprecedented debt is already having an alarming effect on our ability to compete in the free market economy and create much-needed jobs. We are in this debt crisis because Washington spends too much, not because it taxes too little.”

Luetkemeyer is a cosponsor of legislation that would require the federal government to prioritize its obligations on the public debt in the event the debt ceiling is reached. The Full Faith and Credit Act states that in the event the debt reaches its statutory limit, the debt held by the public takes priority over all other obligations incurred by the federal government. The principle behind the legislation is that the full faith and credit of the United States should not hang in the balance on every adjustment to the national debt limit. States protect their credit by pledging first call on revenues to their debts and so should the federal government.

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