We passed a 2012 budget in April spearheaded by Budget Chairman Ryan that would have reduced our deficit by over $4 trillion in the next 10 years.
We passed a Cut and Cap plan that would have reduced our deficit by almost $6 trillion in the next 10 years.
We passed a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would have assured we would be constitutionally required to live within our means.
Let me also provide some historical context to these actions.
Article I, Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution explicitly places the power of the purse in the hands of the House of Representatives. Let me read it for you.
"All bills for raising revenues shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on any other bills."
I think that is pretty clear, don't you? President Obama may not like it. Senator Reid might like it. However, that is our Constitution. The best judgment of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and our other Founding Fathers was that the power of the purse should be vested with the House of Representatives. They believed that the representatives that are closest to the People and have the most accountability to the People, due to the requirement that we stand for election every two years, should take the lead on matters of the purse.
Less than 12 months ago we had an election that saw the House of Representatives have the largest political party change in decades. The Representatives who came to Washington were given a clear directive by their constituents to rein in federal spending and reduce the deficit spending. The Republican position on taxes and spending was well known to the voters. We did not say one thing during the election and come to Washington and start doing something else. We have been very consistent in our insistence that it is time to get our financial house in order.
While we have been been introducing and passing concrete plans and budgets to this end we have seen nothing from either the President of the Senate. In fact, President Obama's proposed budget for 2012 was voted down 97-0 in the Senate. He could not even garner one vote from his own party.
As for the Senate, they have not introduced or put a budget on the table for over 800 days. We should also not forget that President Obama and the Democrats controlled both the executive and legislative branches of government until January of last year. They could do anything they wanted. This debt ceiling limit did not just suddenly appear. In fact, President Obama signed the current public debt limit into law in February, 2010 raising the limit from $12.4 trillion to the current $14.3 trillion. They had the power to set the limit wherever they wanted. They also had the power to do anything they wanted through December of this past year. The People took that power away just as the Founding Fathers envisioned would happen when the general opinion was that the Federal Government was not serving the interests of the People.
Despite the fact that we have been the only branch of this government trying to lead, we have been castigated by President Obama. He asked in his press conference on Friday "Can we say yes to anything". Yes we can. We are on record of saying yes to many things as our votes show. President Obama just does not like the answer when we say "yes" to fiscal responsibility.
Despite the fact that we put everything on the table with our debate and open votes in full view of the People in the House, I also agreed to meet with President Obama and Senate leaders privately to try to broker a deal. I did this with deference to President Obama who wanted it this way. I would have much preferred that he put his full plan on the table for all to consider. He did not want to do this. Therefore, I acceded to his wishes in hopes that we could broker a "grand bargain".
I did everything in my power to compromise with the President. Yes, I even agreed to some revenue increases in order to build consensus and show our commitment to the future of our country. However, President Obama seemed incapable of closing the deal. In fact, he reneged at the last minute on the important agreement that we had made on revenues. When we had come so far to reach an agreement with President Obama it was bitterly disappointing.
I am also aware that in a little over a year my fellow members of the House of Representatives will once again stand in front of the voters. For that reason we are not just considering last year's vote but what is truly best for this country. We are looking at this with clear eyes and a full heart to do what is necessary at this point in our history.
This leads us to today. We have worked over the weekend with our Senate colleagues to craft a plan that will assure that we meet our financial obligations next week and sets a path to return our country to sound financial principles. Due to the late hour, we determined we had to move forward consistent with our constitutional obligations without the President. The House of Representatives will meet our obligations both constitutionally and financially. That I can assure you. I trust that the Senate will do the same.
The President will then have to exercise his constitutional responsibilities. At that point, history will be the judge. If President Obama vetoes the legislation that comes to him and we don't meet our obligations, history will only remember him. There are many advantages to being President but you also stand in history as the symbol of that era- good or bad. That is the way history is written-fair or unfair. John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid will be long forgotten when we look at this consequential time in our history. President Obama will not. His legacy is yet to be determined. However, if he vetoes this legislation he will always be remembered as the President who was in office when we failed to meet our obligations.
We have provided the President a very reasonable way to avoid that from occurring. Only he can determine how history will be written about the Obama era. May God provide the President the inner strength to make the right decision. Any may God continue to bless the United States of America.
Postscript: These are serious and tough times. When I need to keep myself upbeat about our abilities in this country to do the right thing I like to listen to Lee Greenwood's "God Bless The USA". Here are the links to 3 versions on YouTube for a little motivation to start the week.
The original music video God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood
God Bless the USA performed live by Lee Greenwood
The most viewed God Bless the USA video on YouTube
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