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Speak Up Memo May 24
Speak Up Memo May 24
Speak Up Memo May 24
The Voice of Young Conservatives
THE WEEK OF MAY 4, 2010
The Outrage
Used and forgotten. In 2008, young people gave Democrats their vote and in 2009
Democrats showed young people the door. Well it’s time to tell the Democrats to
stop and listen up. From health care to student loan reform, Democratic policies
have consistently ignored the needs of our generation. If we want change, 2010
must be different.
What You Can Do About It
Speak up! As a conservative we must begin to win hearts and minds before we can
win elections. The process starts by educating people about what we truly believe. It
starts with you in the classroom.
We’ll arm you with the facts you need to win the argument. It’s your job to carry the
message on to your campus. It’s your job to speak up! By engaging ourselves in the
debate, we’ll spread the message of conservatism – the message of small
government, Uiscal responsibility, and individual rights – to one campus, one
classroom, and one student at a time.
Over the next Uive weeks the CRNC will be looking into the growing entitlements that
left unreformed will doom this country’s Uiscal future. We must realize that
government is not the solution to the problem…it IS the problem.
This Week’s Theme: Ignoring Our Debt
The Promise: While in the minority Democrats understood the importance of
passing a budget. In 2006, then‐Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer said passing a budget
is “the most basic responsibility of governing. Rep. John Spratt, the top Democrat on
the House Budget Committee, put it more succinctly when he said, “if you can’t pass
a budget, you can’t govern.”
The Reality: Steny Hoyer has announced that for the Uirst time since 1974
Democrats will not pass a budget resolution this year. Why? As Roll Call writes,
“[W]ithout much else on the House agenda, they simply don’t have any
Fact 1: The Budget Resolution is a Necessary Process
As the House Rules Committee website explains,
As we have seen this Congress is not exactly keen on “budget discipline.” Whether it
be the $862 billion stimulus, the $1.2 trillion health care reform, or now the $134
billion grab‐bag spending bill ‐ this is a Congress seemingly committed to digging
our generation a Uiscal hole.
The exorbitant spending is not the only history Democrats are making. The Hill
reported,
“The House has never failed to pass an annual budget resolutions
since the current budget rules were put into place in 1974,
according to a Congressional Research Service report.”
Though not Constitutionally required, the budgeting is a very important process.
Without goals and a commitment to lowering spending in the upcoming year there
is very little incentive to keep the government’s budget in check. As Congressman
Paul Ryan (R‐WI) explains, “you’re Ulying blind without a budget.” With our nation
facing record debt and deUicits as far as our generation can see, Ulying blind, is not
what we should expect of our federal government.
Fact 2: Democrats are Ignoring Their Duty Because of Pure Politics
Democrats are facing tough elections in November. A recent Gallup poll shows that
only 23% of Americans are satisUied with the way things are going in the United
States ‐ the lowest percentage in a midterm year since Gallup began asking the
question. Moreover, as Gallup explains, “low satisfaction ratings have been
associated with greater net seat change between parties in Congress in midterm
election years.”
Democrats are looking to buoy this satisfaction rating however they can ‐ even if it
means concealing the depth of our Uiscal troubles. The House Rules Committee says
that the
“The budget resolution must include a projection of annual budget
deUicits, as well as a statement of the aggregate federal debt.”
Given the Democrats spending spree, the idea of giving Americans a chance to see
Fact 3: Failing to Pass a Budget has Consequences for Americans
If Democrats fail to pass a budget many middle class families could see drastic tax
increases in the next year. As The Hill explains,
“Eschewing a budget resolution could complicate efforts to extend the
Bush‐era tax cuts for individuals making less than $200,000 and
couples making less than $250,000 annually.”
The reason is that the budget draft contains reconciliation instructions that would
allow the Bush tax cuts to pass with a simple majority rather than the usual 60
votes.
Not passing a budget may also have dire long term consequences for investors. Bob
Bixby, head of the Washington‐based Concord Coalition says that
“Failure to adopt a budget resolution when the Uiscal resolution is
needed most would send the worst possible signal. It would say to
investors in Treasury securities, foreign and domestic, that the federal
government is still in denial about its Uiscal problems and has no plan
to address the situation anytime soon.”
Our nation is already teetering on the edge of Uiscal disaster. The only thing keeping
our heads above water is our AAA credit rating with Uinancial analysis companies
that allows us to borrow at low interest rates. Of course with $10 trillion in new
deUicit spending over the next 10 years, if we want to keep our interest rates low, the
government had better start showing a commitment to paying it off. Instead, failing
to pass a budget shows a commitment to more spending.
Bottom Line: In the words of Paul Ryan, “Rather than cut government spending,
[Democrats] chose instead to cut and run ‐ and to simply avoid the hard choices
American families and small businesses must make every day.” We need to make the
tough choices to get our debt under control and we need to make them now.