Spending What We Can Afford

In 2007 Congress passed a "pay as you go budgeting" systerm. It requires that any tax cuts or increases in entitlement spending be offset with reduced spending elswhere. People that support the "paygo" system say that it is necessary to show that Congress undedrstands that being in debt is not acceptable and needs to be contained. They argue that many citizens are concerned about the rising national debt and paygo rightly responds to their worries. They also advocate that this system will teach congress how to budget their money and only spend the money they have, as most businesses' and families already know how to do. Supporters also think that if Congress took the time to collect unpaid taxes, and eliminate wasteful spending, they could most likely raise most of the money needed to pay for new initiatives without increasing their debt. Finally, they argue that paygo can be stopped if necessary, such as in an extreme situation like a recession or crisis. On the other hand, opponents to the paygo system criticize that paygo is the wrong way to approach a budget deficit. They think that paygo will result in higher taxes to pay for the new programs instead of cutting back on the money. They say that budget deficits should be eliminated by economic growht rather than budget cuts and tax increases. Some of them also say that paygo would restrict Congress from responding to national emergencies. Finally, those who don't support the paygo plan argue that program cuts or tax increases will anger voters.

I agree with the paygo plan. It is logical and reasonable. I think it is rediculous that our country can spend money it doesn't have and increase our national debt. If we focused on making money instead of spending it for even a single year i think it would make a huge difference. Personally, I don't really understand how it is possible for us to spend all of this money that we don't have. Where is it coming from? If we had a paygo system, it would help stop the uncontrolled spending that Congress seems to do. Of course the downfall is if Congress decides to raise our taxes for funding for their programs instead of cutting back on spending. Honestly I'm not really sure this would happen considering that that's what would anger voters and the congressman most likely wouldn't be voted in for a next term. Representative Steny Hoyer, who is the majority leader for the House of Representatives, also supports the paygo system. He says, "agreeing to pay for what we buy is a decision to stop digging our hole any deeper, and that is a necessary start."

Randee O'Brien's blog discusses issue number 3: social insecurity and Steven Carlson discusses the cost of war in his blog.