The President’s budget proposal arrived on Capitol Hill this morning. Despite a fresh pitch for more federal spending, the reality is that Washington can’t tax, spend, borrow and regulate our way to prosperity. The last five years have emphasized that reality.
Washington needs to let go of the idea that Washington knows best. The real drivers of economic growth are job creators up and down Main Street. The less time they have to spend on meeting too many regulations from Obamacare and the EPA, the more they can focus on building their business, raising wages, and hiring more workers.
Adding insult to injury, the President’s own political party abandoned even the pretense of producing a budget this year as required by law. That seems like a cavalier attitude when we’re talking about $1 trillion in discretionary funding that will operate government agencies, including those responsible for administering military, transportation and education dollars. It’s important for Congress and the public to vet the tax and spending details of the federal budget. What the President is selling as economic elixirs may bear negative side effects that the taxpaying public won’t want to swallow and that won’t work to drive the creation of good-paying jobs that will lift the standard of living for people working hard to make ends meet.
I’m not about to join the march to madness that allows America to tax, spend and borrow on the backs of generations yet to come, and I’m focused on holding the line on unbridled federal spending and regulatory overreach – changing the mindset that Washington knows best.