Tough, Clear, Singular

Last week I sat down with the San Angelo Standard Times editorial board.  It was a very pleasant and wide-ranging discussion, and I was able to articulate what I have come to believe may very well be the only solution to our current debt crisis.




First we have to start with a clear, objective view of the problem.  This video is indispensible in establishing that starting point:

What can I do as a U.S. Representative?

1.  Join with like-minded Congressmen to form a committed nucleus.  In military terms, this group of committed, like-minded individuals is the Center of Gravity for Congressional action and therefore the basis for any truly effective change.  For brevity, I will refer to this group as the Coalition for the remainder of this article.

2.  Communicate from the Coalition to the President (whoever he/she may be) that we expect and will fully support any broad-based proposal that balances the budget within that President's current term of office.  This is an absolute standard, for the following reasons:  1) Balancing the budget will require a national level of vision, inspiration, and leadership that can only come from the bully pulpit of the Presidency.  Think Churchill and the rallying of Great Britain.  2) The "current term of office" allows a four-year period to balance the budget. A lengthier proposition (five years, ten years) is unacceptable because it will be subject to changing political winds; it is not likely that a coherent plan could survive beyond one Presidential term, because it is not likely that the President in this case would be re-elected (again, think Churchill).

3.  In the event that the President abdicates the responsibility of presenting this balanced budget plan, work within the Coalition and the broader Congress to pursue one of the following Legislative solutions (listed in my order of preference):

Option 1) An across the board spending cut, evenly divided across four years (about 10% per year) that applies to every single budget line item - no exceptions.  Reasoning:  If we shrink all government spending proportionally, we are more likely to gain multi-partisan support.  Since there will be no "favored" class of expenditures, no Congressperson can say that they or their constituents are disproportionately affected.  Yes, this will be painful, but it will be our duty to lead the country through this, particularly if the President has failed to do so.

Option 2) A federal "life support" bill that maintains minimal yet necessary federal expenditures such as customs/border control, defense and air traffic control and that also appropriates funds to pay our creditors so that we will not default on our national obligations.  All remaining federal line-items would temporarily cease and we as a Coalition would publicly re-focus attention back to the President as the necessary and proper office to produce a balanced budget plan.  Reasoning:   In order to pass a bill like this, we must remove the specter of "national default" as a topic of conversation.  Note that this is not my preferred course of action, because I will state plainly that under this plan, those programs termed "mandatory" spending, including Social Security and Medicare, would cease until such time as the President provided the required balanced-budget plan.  I understand the political risk of this statement; I also understand the pressures that would be created under this scenario.  Yet, barring the acceptance of Option 1) above, this becomes by necessity the next option.

Option 3) Legislation that ceases all federal spending, and accompanying public statements from the Coalition imploring the President to provide an acceptable balanced budget plan.  Yes, this constitutes a complete cessation of spending, a "government shut-down."  This is obviously not my preferred option, but I am running as a candidate whose consistent message is:  If we do not control ourselves voluntarily - i.e., shut ourselves down  - we will be shut down in ways that will be uncontrollable and catastrophic.  We do not want our economic future imposed  upon us by external forces.

There is a fourth option, which I find unacceptable and will never support.  Interestingly, it is the only option that the incumbent, Mike Conaway, has said he will implement:  Option 4) Continued deficit spending (adding to the national debt.) with no clear plan to stop or even slow down.

We have together as a nation gotten ourselves into this mess; we must own it and take responsibility for it.  We have a tough road ahead, but not an impossible road.  It is our privilege to take on the challenge of balancing our budget, and it will be our joy in the end to experience the fruits of this labor:  When the world knows that the United States is back in the hands of fiscal conservatives, that our national economy is solvent, the markets will surge, employment will increase, entrepreneurship will thrive, and we will be able to do that which is honorable:  pass along to our children and grandchildren a nation that is in better condition than we found it.

This is part of my vision for our country.  If you see this issue as I do, you can vote for me in the primary election on May 29, 2012.  Better yet, you can act today, and cast your vote in early voting, which is open from now through May 25th.

Godpseed-