Press Releases
Seeking to Stop Rising Debt, Luetkemeyer Opposes Raising Government Credit Limit
Washington, DC,
December 17, 2009
With grave concerns about the staggering debt burden being placed on our children and grandchildren because of out-of-control government spending, U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) today opposed raising the nation's debt limit by an additional $290 billion.
With grave concerns about the staggering debt burden being placed on our children and grandchildren because of out-of-control government spending, U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) today opposed raising the nation’s debt limit by an additional $290 billion. Earlier this week, Luetkemeyer and 173 of his Republican colleagues sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi informing her that they would not support adding the debt increase to the Defense Appropriations Bill, forcing Pelosi to hold a separate vote on increasing the nation’s credit limit on its taxpayer funded credit card. “At some point, we have to stand up against this offensive spending that has gotten so out of control that it continues to threaten the viability and stability of our economic system, while at the same time saddling our children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren with an economic burden the likes of which our nation has never seen,” Luetkemeyer said. “This Congress and this majority continue to spend like drunken sailors, and my fear is that our nation will soon be waking up with one heck of a fiscal hangover that will have a very negative impact on hard-working American families.” Luetkemeyer believes that Washington must get its fiscal house in order and is an original co-sponsor of the CAP the DEBT Act (Control America’s Purse-strings to Deliver a Better Tomorrow). This legislation would mandate a two-thirds roll call vote in both chambers to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and repeal the Gephardt Rule, which allows a debt ceiling increase to be included in the joint budget resolution without facing a direct vote, such as the one approved earlier this year over Luetkemeyer’s opposition. Luetkemeyer believes it is time Washington and this Congress do what every American family and small business has been forced to do, and that is practice fiscal discipline. Last year the majority in Washington spent a record $3.52 trillion, and the national debt now stands at an unprecedented $12 trillion with every man, woman and child on the hook for $39,000 in federal debt. Luetkemeyer noted that raising the debt limit amounts to nothing more than raising the limit on the nation’s credit card so the majority can continue their record spending spree. The majority continues to resist any effort to control runaway federal spending, and the American people have had enough of record borrowing and spending. Luetkemeyer last week supported the Republican motion to recommit to H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009, which, if passed, would have repealed the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and directed returned TARP money to be used for deficit reduction. The motion to recommit would have lowered the national debt limit to correspond to TARP repayments. ###
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