March 2011: Budget Debate in Full Swing, Factoring Jobs in the Budget Debate and Border Security

Budget Debate in Full Swing

It’s been two months since the 112th Congress convened and the budget debate is in full swing.  Already, House Republicans have voted to cut $100 billion from the federal budget, in addition to taking other important steps to achieve greater cost-savings over time, including reducing the operating budgets for Congressional offices and committees.  

These initiatives might only represent a small amount of federal spending overall, but there is no question that action taken so far is essential to reducing the debt and limiting the influence of government.  Substantial cost-savings will only occur when entitlement programs -- such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, which only continue to grow and cost taxpayers more of their hard-earned money each year -- are effectively reformed.  Each of these programs is on an unsustainable path and entitlements will surely be a central theme of the upcoming fiscal year 2012 budget debate in Congress (Note: the next fiscal year begins Oct. 1).  

At the moment, Congress is focused on finalizing a stop-gap funding measure to provide for the operation of government for the remainder of fiscal year 2011.  The House passed legislation with $100 billion in spending cuts for the remaining seven months of the fiscal year, but differences with the U.S. Senate present the potential for impasse.  Negotiations surrounding this funding package are ongoing.  In the meantime, to avoid any disruption in government and the services it provides, it appears likely that a two-week funding extension with $4 billion in cuts, derived from various accounts and programs supported for elimination by the President, will be enacted in the coming days.  
  
America’s budget situation is far too serious to ignore and inaction on the national debt, now exceeding $14 trillion, is not an option.  And budget forecasts only get more dire and severe, leaving absolutely no assurances that the status quo is sufficient.  The Obama Administration is predicting that the gross federal debt will top $15 trillion this year, officially equaling the size of the entire U.S. economy and increase to $21 trillion in the next five years.  This constitutes the biggest one-year debt increase in history.  Meanwhile, the National Association for Business Economics is calling the national debt the most significant threat facing the economy, far exceeding the challenges associated with high unemployment or the risk of inflation or deflation.  

These and other budget warnings underscore a critical point: Taking steps today to reduce the national debt will go a long way to providing stability for not just the new generations of Americans, but also today’s workers and retirees.
  
Factoring Jobs in the Budget Debate

Unemployment is still high.  In San Diego, the jobless rate is one in ten.  Whether talking to job seekers or small business owners, the message remains the same: the American economy lacks the certainty that job creators need to get people back to work.  This point was reiterated during a job fair that I hosted last Friday, where many San Diego businesses showed they are doing all they can to strengthen the local workforce and implement solutions that translate into jobs.

The best way for Congress and the rest of government to help create jobs is not through higher taxes, more regulation or increased federal spending -- this will only lead to higher jobless rates and fail to restore confidence.  The fact of the matter is that as government spending declines, so does borrowing and the threat of tax increases.  When businesses find consistency and better understand their tax rates, as well as unique regulatory structure, they are more likely to begin hiring and expanding operations.  Such an environment is far different than the current situation, particularly with health care implementation on the horizon.  

On the regulatory front, the House passed a resolution instructing all House committees to conduct a thorough overview of all regulations under their jurisdiction.  The end goal is to have each committee report on regulations obstructing job growth and then address those regulations, which one recent study suggests cost small businesses as much as $10,000 a year for each worker.     

GAO: Only 15 Percent of Southwest Border Air Tight

A new report by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) says the U.S. Border Patrol controls only 44 percent of the Southwest border.  What’s worse, only 15 PERCENT of the border, according to GAO, is considered air tight.

Drug smugglers, criminal aliens and illegal immigrants continue crossing the southwest border without much obstruction.  In Mexico, thousands of people have been killed due to border-related violence in the last year alone.  While the border is more secure today than at any other time before, there is still a long way to go before effective and consistent enforcement is achieved.

In the last Congress, I proposed several border security bills and again plan on introducing two separate enforcement bills very soon.  One proposal provides the Secretary of Homeland Security complete discretionary authority to build additional infrastructure on the border, authority that expired under previous law.  The other bill denies reimbursement for criminal alien incarceration to states or localities that do not comply with federal immigration law, otherwise known as “sanctuary” states or cities.    

In Case You Missed It

Click here to read my letter to President Obama regarding ROTC on college campuses. 

Click here to read my press release on the Fairness for Military Recruiters Act.