Words of wisdom from Congressman Mike Ross

As part of the bipartisan debt ceiling agreement reached earlier this summer, Congress established the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, also known as the Super Committee, to present a plan to Congress by November 23rd that reduces the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion in 10 years. Unfortunately, the Super Committee failed to pass such a plan.

Unless Congress reaches an agreement by December 23rd, then a process known as sequestration will take effect in 2013, slashing all federal spending across-the-board, including defense spending, to achieve the $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction. Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare benefits and veterans’ benefits are exempt from sequestration and will not be part of the automatic cuts.

I had been hopeful the Super Committee would be able to get the job done and more. In fact, I joined an effort to build a bipartisan coalition of more than 100 members of Congress – both Democrats and Republicans – to call on the Super Committee to “go big” and present a plan that reduces the deficit by $4 trillion through spending cuts and tax code reform – instead of the required minimum of $1.2 trillion.

It’s become clear that Congress can’t get past the gridlock and can’t stop the out-of-control spending. That’s why I believe the only way to force Congress to balance the budget is through a constitutional amendment. As a fiscal conservative, I have helped introduce a balanced budget amendment in each and every session of Congress since I first arrived.

Earlier this month, I voted for a balanced budget constitutional amendment in the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, the House failed to pass the amendment, because constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority to pass.

Deficit spending is nothing new and both parties share the blame, but our deficits have become unsustainable and it’s past time to restore fiscal discipline and accountability to our government.

Our state has a balanced budget amendment that prohibits deficit spending. I know it can be done because as a former state legislator, I made the tough decisions, took the tough votes and worked with members of both parties to reach a balanced budget for each of my ten years in the State Senate.President Clinton worked with a Republican Congress to not only balance the nation’s budget, but to give us a budget surplus. Though the budget surpluses didn’t last long after President Clinton left office, the experience taught us that by working together in a bipartisan manner, it is possible to balance the budget. It was done then and it can be done again.

We must bring some fiscal sanity back to our government so that we can focus on other challenges facing the American people, like finding a good job. As your Congressman, I will keep working to bring both sides together to find commonsense solutions to our nation’s biggest problems.