Their view: We need debt limit solution, not scare tactics

Congressman Steve Pearce addressed the president’s false claims that he “cannot guarantee” Social Security payments in the absence of a debt ceiling agreement.

“The president claimed that ‘there may simply not be money in the coffers,’ to fund Social Security, but this is simply not true,” said Pearce. “The country is still generating revenue, and as the president is well aware, this year’s revenues will be more than enough to cover Social Security and Medicare. We don’t need the job-killing tax increases the president has proposed; we need to let Americans go back to work. Instead of politicizing this serious issue by frightening our seniors with baseless claims, I hope the president will join the House in rational discussions to solve our debt problem.”

The bipartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected $2.230 trillion in revenue for Fiscal Year 2011, more than sufficient funding for Social Security ($727 billion in 2011, according to the CBO), Medicare ($563 billion) and the military ($157 billion). The problem is not that the U.S. has insufficient funding for our entitlement programs; it is that the administration is wasting taxpayer dollars on other programs we don’t need.

“The president is politicizing a serious situation. His actions don’t match his words,” said Pearce. “He tells seniors that we can’t afford to pay their Social Security, but he asks Congress to spend money at the highest levels since World War Two. In fact, the Washington Times reported that Obama has proposed only $2 billion in total cuts. He asked Congress to pass a debt limit increase without any plan to reduce the debt. He increased the national debt by over $3 trillion in his first two years in office. And he continues to propose only job-killing taxes that will cost Americans their livelihoods, instead of real solutions to our debt crisis.”