Coalition calls for federal fiscal restraint
By Bret Hayworthbhayworth@siouxcityjournal.com | Posted: Friday, October 17, 2008
SIOUX CITY -- A Concord Coalition meeting in the city Thursday became more topical after the federal budget deficit rose last week to a record high of $438 billion.
On top of that, the dollar sign at the left of the National Debt Clock in New York City earlier this month had to taken down -- in order to accommodate another numerical place in the U.S. debt. The debt is now $10.1 trillion, and an adjusted debt clock will be set up to handle a quadrillion dollars; a 1 followed by 15 zeroes.
At a Concord Coalition town hall meeting Thursday at Western Iowa Tech Community College, Concord's Midwest regional director Sara Imhof used a numbers with many zeroes behind them to lay out a bleak picture on federal finances. The Concord Coalition, created in the 1990s, is a nonpartisan organization focusing on achieving a balanced federal budget and fiscal restraint.
"Current fiscal policy is on an unsustainable path. ... This is not about numbers, it is truly a moral issue. What we are doing now greatly impacts the lives of your children and grandchildren," Imhof told the crowd of 25.
Imhof said the financial woes will hopefully serve as a wakeup call for more prudent fiscal policies.
"We'll see where that goes in 2009," she said.
"Congress, of course, has been fiscally irresponsible for decades," said Pat Vezau of Sioux City.
Imhof said the interest on the national debt is the fastest growing part of the federal budget, and now at 9 percent, costing more annually than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
"The compound interest is hurting us desperately," she said.
The debt interest is now the third-largest budget category, trailing only Social Security and health care. Health care, Imhof said, is really spiking compared to other costs and will put a crimp on the federal government's ability to keep up with Medicare and Medicaid costs.
And with the Big Three entitlements -- Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid -- continuing to take up more of the budget, discretionary spending for defense, education and the roads Iowans want improved will get squeezed, she said.
Imhof said Americans need to urge Congress to make changes, which she said will have to be a combination of tax increases and spending cuts to be effective.
"We need public willingness to look at both sides of the ledger," she said. "Every day we delay doing tweaks adds billions to the problems."
Nearing the end of her remarks, Imhof became more pointed in her criticisms of Congress members promising too much on the campaign trail and then not responding to the burgeoning debt.
"We need rational thinking on our spending," said Jim Shook of Sioux City. Shook criticized the role of lobbyists, whom he said sometimes write the bills introduced in Congress.
Vezau said congressional gimmicks like balanced budget amendments haven't worked. He said it will likely take the creation of a new governmental entity that would be insulated from political influence making recommendations to steer the country toward solvency.
The Concord Coalition isn't the only group advocating the need to pare the deficit. The Citizens Against Government Waste on Wednesday called for spending cuts after the deficit reached the new height, breaking the previous deficit of $417 billion in 2004.
Read more in Hayworth's Politically Speaking blog at www.siouxcityjournal.com/blogs
On top of that, the dollar sign at the left of the National Debt Clock in New York City earlier this month had to taken down -- in order to accommodate another numerical place in the U.S. debt. The debt is now $10.1 trillion, and an adjusted debt clock will be set up to handle a quadrillion dollars; a 1 followed by 15 zeroes.
At a Concord Coalition town hall meeting Thursday at Western Iowa Tech Community College, Concord's Midwest regional director Sara Imhof used a numbers with many zeroes behind them to lay out a bleak picture on federal finances. The Concord Coalition, created in the 1990s, is a nonpartisan organization focusing on achieving a balanced federal budget and fiscal restraint.
"Current fiscal policy is on an unsustainable path. ... This is not about numbers, it is truly a moral issue. What we are doing now greatly impacts the lives of your children and grandchildren," Imhof told the crowd of 25.
Imhof said the financial woes will hopefully serve as a wakeup call for more prudent fiscal policies.
"We'll see where that goes in 2009," she said.
"Congress, of course, has been fiscally irresponsible for decades," said Pat Vezau of Sioux City.
Imhof said the interest on the national debt is the fastest growing part of the federal budget, and now at 9 percent, costing more annually than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
"The compound interest is hurting us desperately," she said.
The debt interest is now the third-largest budget category, trailing only Social Security and health care. Health care, Imhof said, is really spiking compared to other costs and will put a crimp on the federal government's ability to keep up with Medicare and Medicaid costs.
And with the Big Three entitlements -- Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid -- continuing to take up more of the budget, discretionary spending for defense, education and the roads Iowans want improved will get squeezed, she said.
Imhof said Americans need to urge Congress to make changes, which she said will have to be a combination of tax increases and spending cuts to be effective.
"We need public willingness to look at both sides of the ledger," she said. "Every day we delay doing tweaks adds billions to the problems."
Nearing the end of her remarks, Imhof became more pointed in her criticisms of Congress members promising too much on the campaign trail and then not responding to the burgeoning debt.
"We need rational thinking on our spending," said Jim Shook of Sioux City. Shook criticized the role of lobbyists, whom he said sometimes write the bills introduced in Congress.
Vezau said congressional gimmicks like balanced budget amendments haven't worked. He said it will likely take the creation of a new governmental entity that would be insulated from political influence making recommendations to steer the country toward solvency.
The Concord Coalition isn't the only group advocating the need to pare the deficit. The Citizens Against Government Waste on Wednesday called for spending cuts after the deficit reached the new height, breaking the previous deficit of $417 billion in 2004.
Read more in Hayworth's Politically Speaking blog at www.siouxcityjournal.com/blogs
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