Action Item of the Week – the Fiscal Cliff

With only two weeks until we come to the edge of the fiscal cliff, I sincerely wish I had more to tell you. Unless Congress acts, on January 1, 2013, our current tax rates will expire, and every taxpayer will face higher rates. On the same day, a series of automatic, across-the-board government spending cuts will occur. Half of those cuts would come from our defense budget, which could harm our national security.

I’ve joined other House Republicans in passing legislation to replace those defense cuts with more common-sense reductions, and I’ve voted to extend our current tax rates. I’m dismayed that the President keeps insisting we must raise taxes on the top two percent of earners in order to come to a compromise. That plan would only pay for eight days of government operations. The truth is that America doesn’t have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. Until we come up with a spending solution, the government will head towards a debt crisis no matter how high tax rates are. I’ll continue to update you with any developments, and I’ll keep working to reduce government spending.