Dear Congressman Price,
I wish to inform you of the necessity of having a balanced federal budget. Our national debt already costs us (the taxpayers) billions of dollars in interest payments. If we allow our national debt to grow it to grow it will cost us even more. Currently, interest payments are 10 % of federal spending, although as our nation's debt grows, so does this percentage. I believe the American worker's hard earned dollars could and should be put to better use. If you wish to keep Americans from paying more unneeded taxes, and put the taxes they do pay to good use, I urge you to prevent our national budget from growing by passing a bill requiring, when possible, a balanced federal budget.
I would like to first point out that our nation's debt is much bigger than it has ever been. The debt in 1960 of 284 billion is now 18 times bigger at 5.5 trillion. Our debt has increased at a rate that is much larger than that of inflation (which has only tripled). Under the Bush administration, increased spending has lead the debt to grow at a rate faster than it ever has. A stop must be put to the federal government's out of control spending; a bill requiring a balanced budget would help to do this. Not only is our debt much bigger than it has ever been, it is continuing to grow at an ever increasing rate at a cost to the American taxpayer.
Next I would like to emphasize that this bill would not require a balanced federal budget if extenuating circumstances would make balancing the budget illogical. In times of desperation, when federal spending to the point of a deficit is needed to aid the American people, the budget would not have to be balanced. In order to allow deficit spending, all that is needed is three fifths majority in the house of representatives. If there is truly a reason to put our nation farther into debt, I'm sure this three fifths majority vote would easily be achieved.
As I mentioned earlier, 10 % of federal revenue is used to pay interest on our nation's debt; as long as our debt continues to grow, so will this percentage. We could see this percentage reach 25-50 % if our debt continues to grow at its' current rate. This would mean our government would have to use 50 % of its' revenue to make interest payments on the debt, instead of using national revenue to help the American people. 50 % of American taxpayers money would go to paying off the debt which our irresponsible government created. If we owe large amounts of debt to foreign countries and must pay them interest payments, it means that these countries can control our nation economically. This would cost the U.S. as whole and our citizens greatly.
In order to save the American people billions of dollars (over $1,000 per person) and in order to put their precious hard earned dollars to good use, I urge you to pass a bill requiring the government to maintain a balanced federal budget, when plausible. We must not allow our debt to grow and allow other countries to control us economically. If we allow spending to continue unchecked, and allow our debt to grow by not passing such a bill , it will continue to cost the American people greatly and will cost our children much, much more.
