Federal Budget: Spending & debt grow, both parties are to blame

How many more trillions of dollars do we need to spend before we wake up to the danger of our national debt?

Remember Nancy Pelosi’s famous words about Obamacare? “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.”

That was nine years ago, but the sad reality of Washington is that we do this all the time. This week, Congress is set to vote on a giant spending package — 2,313 pages long — that was just released, was negotiated in secret, spends $1.4 trillion, and is chock full of member projects and special-interest giveaways.

To put that number in context: Without any opportunity to read the bill, Congress will vote to spend more than $4,200 for every man, woman, and child in America. That’s on top of the $23 trillion in debt we’ve already accumulated, not to mention that the federal government is already running a trillion-dollar deficit, every year.

For years, Republicans fought against wasteful spending under the Obama administration. My party (rightly) argued that our debt and deficits were unsustainable, that we were leaving a burden that future generations simply couldn’t afford. At some point, the bill will come due.

Unfortunately, after regaining control of Congress, my party has shown an almost equal disregard for the dangers of our growing national debt and annual deficits as have the Democrats. Sure, you can argue that, in order to prevent a government shutdown, we have to work with Nancy Pelosi and House and Senate Democrats to get an agreement. But I look at these spending bills and wonder, How would they be different if Nancy Pelosi sat in her office and wrote them by herself? She’s driving this train, making sure Democratic priorities are funded, and we’re letting her.

Let me give you some examples.