Credit card — denied. We must rein in Washington’s out of control spending

The debate rages in Washington but most Americans wouldn’t recognize it. The debate isn’t whether or not to raise the debt ceiling, but rather by how much. The debate isn’t about how soon to balance the budget, but rather how much more to spend without fixing Washington’s out of control spending.

Americans who run a business or run their family budget understand something most of Congress and the Biden administration do not — you can’t continue to borrow indefinitely. You can’t continue spending that bears no relationship to the revenue you bring in.

It’s like giving one of my teenage kids a platinum credit card with no limits. And that ain’t happening, at least not in my house.

Make no mistake, this problem was created by both parties. President Trump added $7.8 trillion to our debt and President Biden has added $3.8 trillion so far; combined that’s roughly $12 trillion over just the last six years!

This week Congress will be asked to to ignore our $31 trillion in debt. We will be asked to ignore the $1.5 trillion deficit for just the first six months of this fiscal year. We will be asked to give the government more power to borrow without any plans to reform Washington’s bad spending habits.

This plan spends $6.3 trillion this fiscal year compared to spending $6.2 trillion in the previous fiscal year, hardly any difference. Meanwhile, overall revenues are less than $5 trillion. This plan takes a projected $31 trillion deficit over the next decade and reduces it by — wait for it — $3.5 trillion.

So in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, the plan will barely “cut” 10 percent of this massive debt. There’s more. This plan only pays the interest, not the principal, on the debt. So it’s all but guaranteed our debt after ten years will actually be higher than it is today. 

As a fiscal conservative I’ve introduced the Penny Plan to balance the budget in five years. I realize most of my colleagues aren’t as aggressive as I am in pursuit of this goal — but I’m shocked there is NO plan to balance the budget, not even a little bit. At this point, I’d even settle for a 20-year plan.

In the past, debt and deficit crises have spurred action in Congress. In 1994 the GOP took over Congress and had a ten year balanced budget plan, which actually ended up happening sooner. 

In 2010, GOP leaders enacted “Cut, Cap and Balance,” a plan with spending restraints and sequesters to keep spending under control.

Both of these happened while there was a Democrat president, so I’m not buying that excuse either.

Furthermore, our goal is to reduce the debt. It isn’t to pass the buck on the debt we already have. The GOP has been promising to cut spending for years. So when it’s time to put our money where our mouths are, we run the other way. I’m not good with that. 

We understand the debt ceiling is a serious issue. But we also know if we fix our spending problem now, we won’t need to keep raising the debt ceiling. Or, if we raise the debt ceiling we should actually reduce the debt or cut spending, or ideally both. Otherwise, it’s just more empty promises. 

This plan also hits wind and solar production, negatively impacting my home state of South Carolina. In fact, our state is the only producer of certain renewable wind energy components. This deal will hurt residential and commercial users and producers of solar in our state too. 

It also makes no sense to pass HR 1, to lower energy costs, only to turn around and go after a different sector and now raise energy costs.

I pledged to do three things when running for office as an independent, conservative voice. First, I promised to uphold my oath to the Constitution. Second, I promised to stand up to the big spending and insider deals of both parties. Third, I promised to represent South Carolina.

Someone needs to stand up today and say not on my watch.

The debt ceiling deal pushed by the House would have me go against everything I am and ran to be. Unless we get real, I will remain a NO regardless of the pressure put on me by those in power.

Nancy Mace represents South Carolina’s 1st District.