Our U.S. Government Deficit hit a record 1.4 trillion in 2009. Our national debt has increased to over 12.2 trillion dollars.

The debt was $9 trillion at the beginning of 2008. Budget deficits, multiple bailouts, and stimulus programs have increased our debt burden by 33% over the last two years. Spending more than we collect in taxes is a fiscally unsustainable approach.

We must reduce spending – quickly – or we will reach a point at which we lose the ability to service our own debt. If we reach this point, our country will be bankrupt. Already other nations in Asia and the Middle East are moving away from trading exclusively in dollars and moving to commodity-backed currencies. Should more countries consider this option, the dollar will lose its reserve currency status.

North Carolina has a balanced budget amendment and must make difficult decisions each year in order to function inside its constitutional framework. The Federal Government needs to follow the same approach.

I support:

1. A Balanced Budget Amendment. I would also work to cease the monetization of our debt.

2. Simplifying taxes.

3. Eliminating the capital gains tax to attract offshore investment to encourage new businesses and produce jobs and goods. We must move away from a society of predominately consumers.

4. Eliminating the death tax. Individuals work hard to create wealth, spending nearly 1/3 of their life away from their families to provide for them, and should be able to pass the fruits of their labor on to future generations.

Because we use words like “trillion” infrequently in our daily lives, the signficance is difficult to grasp. To give you an idea of how much a TRILLION dollars is, consider this:

If a baby were born today, he would be:

17 minutes old in 1000 seconds

12 days old in 1 million seconds

32 years old in 1 billion seconds