The United States is on a path to become Argentina.

Today Congressional Democrats are set to raise the debt limit again by $1.9 trillion to $14.3 trillion – roughly the size of the entire U.S. economy.  This will be the largest one-time debt limit increase in history and the fifth increase in less than two years from the Democrats.  If all this borrowing weren’t enough, President Obama’s budget would force Congress to raise the limit once again in just nine months.

The United States is facing an urgent fiscal crisis. Our national debt currently stands at $12.3 trillion, which is a $3.7 trillion or 42% increase since the Democrats took over Congress in January 2007.  In three years Congressional Democrats have accumulated more federal debt than in our nation’s first 200 years. Yesterday, Moody’s Investors Service Inc said the U.S. government’s Aaa bond rating will be jeopardized unless strict measures are taken to reduce our budget deficits.

Americans across the country do not budget their finances this way and neither should the federal government.  Congress has to start living within its means or we will end up like Argentina – fiscally insolvent.  Instead of raising the debt limit and charging more on our credit card, we should use repaid TARP funds and unspent stimulus money for deficit reduction.  We should also amend House rules to require that any increase in the statutory debt limit be considered as a stand-alone bill and pass with a supermajority two-thirds vote.  I believe by taking these small steps, we can put our country back on a path to fiscal stability.

Last week President Obama spoke of fiscal discipline and promised to pay “for what we spent on my watch.”  He went on to note correctly that “if we don’t take meaningful steps to rein in our debt, it could damage our markets, increase the cost of borrowing, and jeopardize our recovery -– all of which would have an even worse effect on our job growth and family incomes.”  I was impressed and encouraged by the president’s remarks.  Unfortunately, his actions did not match his words.

The president’s budget released today contains more spending, more taxes, and more debt.  According to news sources, White House spokesman Dan Pfeiffer said yesterday that the White House would really like “to draw a line in the sand and enforce some discipline in the spending process.”  If that is true, why is the Administration proposing a budget that more than doubles the debt, drives spending to a new record of $3.8 trillion in FY2011, pushes the deficit to a new record of $1.6 trillion in FY2010, and raises taxes by over $2 trillion through 2020?

Our nation is facing an urgent financial crisis.  Today, the individual share of the national debt for every woman, man, and child in the U.S is $39,870.  This debt is almost entirely comprised of new spending that our children and grandchildren will be forced to repay with interest.  I believe it is time to stop spending our children’s future.  As Thomas Jefferson prophetically observed, “Loading the nation with debt and leaving it for the following generations to pay is morally irresponsible.”

Elected officials in Washington must start doing what they say.  If they promise to cut spending, then they need to cut spending. Common sense tells you that spending more to save more is not a logical fiscal policy.  The president has said he will “continue to go through the budget, line by line, page by page, to eliminate programs that we can’t afford and don’t work.”  As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I would urge the president to include Republicans in that process.  Hopefully we can move beyond the rhetoric and achieve real savings for the American people.

On Wednesday evening, President Obama spoke to the nation in his first State of the Union address. Unfortunately the president demonstrated that he and the Democrat leaders in Congress are still not listening to the American people.  The American people have stood up repeatedly and said “no” to a government take over of health care and more spending.  Yet on Wednesday night, the president once again urged Congress to pass his health care takeover and proposed another billion dollar stimulus plan, which is exactly what the American people have been asking the president and Congress not to do.

To make matters worse, a day after the president rightfully noted that “families across the country are tightening their belts and making tough decisions.  The federal government should do the same” Senate Democrats passed a $1.9 trillion increase in the national debt limit.  Since taking control of Congress, Democrats have expanded our national debt by 42% and raised the debt limit six times since September 2007.  They have also increased non-defense spending by 85% in just two years.

We cannot balance the budget while advancing a multi-trillion dollar government takeover of health care and another multi-billion dollar stimulus plan that will place us deeper in debt.  Today, the individual share of the national debt for every woman, man, and child in the U.S is $39,870.  This debt is almost entirely comprised of new spending that our children and grandchildren will be forced to repay with interest.  I believe it is time to stop spending our children’s future.  As Thomas Jefferson prophetically observed, “Loading the nation with debt and leaving it for the following generations to pay is morally irresponsible.”

As a staunch fiscal conservative, I have consistently opposed spending increases regardless of who occupied the Oval Office and will continue to do so again this year.  The federal government must learn to live within its means – just like American families.  It is time to let Americans keep more of what they earn and for the government to spend less.  I believe that in taking these steps, our economy will experience the growth and prosperity that have defined America for generations.

Tonight, I look forward to hearing President Obama’s plan for a spending freeze in Washington.  Unfortunately, at the same time he is touting his newfound fiscal conservatism, he is also pushing Congress to pass a $1.9 trillion increase in the national debt limit.  Since taking control of Congress, Democrats have expanded our national debt by 42% and raised the debt limit five times since September 2007.

Today, the individual share of the national debt for every woman, man, and child in the U.S is $39,870.  This debt is almost entirely comprised of new spending that our children and grandchildren will be forced to repay with interest.  I believe it is time to stop spending our children’s future.  As Thomas Jefferson prophetically observed, “Loading the nation with debt and leaving it for the following generations to pay is morally irresponsible.”

As a staunch fiscal conservative, I have consistently opposed spending increases regardless of who occupied the Oval Office and will continue to do so again this year.  The federal government must learn to live within its means – just like American families.  It is time to let Americans keep more of what they earn and for the government to spend less.  I believe that in taking these steps, our economy will experience the growth and prosperity that have defined America for generations.

Today news reports indicate that the Obama administration is considering a criminal trial in Washington for a Guantanamo Bay detainee suspected of bombing a Bali nightclub that killed 202 people.  This would bring one of the most notorious terrorists to U.S. soil and would allow him the opportunity to be tried steps away from our nation’s Capitol.  This man committed a crime outside of the United States, yet President Obama thinks it would be in our best interest to bring him to epicenter of our country and government.

I do not believe terrorists who kill innocent people should be housed on U.S. soil and granted the same rights as American citizens.  President Obama and House Democrats support the idea of bringing terrorists onto U.S. soil as a way to honor the Constitution.  Affording terrorists constitutional protections does just the opposite – it weakens our judicial system and undermines our Constitution.

Yesterday the President said, “We are at war. We are at war against al Qaeda, a far-reaching network of violence and hatred that attacked us on 9/11, that killed nearly 3,000 innocent people, and that is plotting to strike us again.”  If we are at war, then why is an al Qaeda terrorist who tried to blow up a plane on Christmas Day being arraigned in a federal court today?  Why is he not being treated as a prisoner of war?  I call on the president to explain clearly his definition of “war against al Qaeda.”

I do not believe terrorists who kill or attempt to kill innocent people should be housed on U.S. soil and granted the same rights as American citizens.  President Obama and House Democrats support the idea of bringing terrorists onto U.S. soil as a way to honor the Constitution.  Affording terrorists constitutional protections does just the opposite – it weakens our judicial system and undermines our Constitution.

Today the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on four important bills: the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, a Continuing Resolution that will fund the federal government, a bill to yet again increase our nation’s debt limit, and a “Jobs Bill.” Late last night, around 9:30 P.M., House Democrats posted three of the four bills online then scheduled votes on these bills starting at 10:00 A.M. this morning.  Why the rush?  So Speaker Pelosi can catch a plane to Copenhagen.

I would ask the Speaker, what is more important, ensuring that Members of Congress and the American people have a chance to read these bills or attending a climate change conference?

Record spending bills have been passing the House all year without a chance for Members of Congress and the American people to read them.   Earlier this year Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) and I introduced H.Res. 554, a resolution requiring the House of Representatives to make bills and conference reports available online for 72 hours before they are considered by the House.  This resolution will enhance public participation in our democracy and help restore the public trust in government by raising the level of openness, order and discourse. I urge the Speaker to cancel her flight so Members can stop voting blind.

Today President Obama announced that more than 70 detainees from Guantanamo Bay will be moved and housed indefinitely in Thomson, Illinois. The Obama Administration has yet to explain how transferring these terrorists to American soil will make our country safer. While the president may see a change in venue as a way to win approval overseas, I see it as a first class ticket to the United States for terrorists who seek to harm Americans.  

Terrorists who kill innocent people and do not abide by international law should not be housed on U.S. soil and granted the same rights as American citizens. President Obama and House Democrats support the idea of bringing terrorists onto U.S. soil as a way to honor the Constitution.  Bringing terrorists to the U.S. and affording them constitutional protections does just the opposite – it weakens our judicial system and undermines our Constitution.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has announced plans to extend the $700 billion TARP program through next October.  The bailout program has strayed wildly from its original purpose of providing short-term support and stability for the financial system.  TARP was intended to address a crisis in our financial markets, and it was understood that American taxpayers would be repaid once the immediate crisis subsided. 

I have pushed Secretary Geithner to unwind this program immediately and to dedicate all repaid funds to reducing the federal government’s record deficit.  As recently as September, Secretary Geithner assured me that repaid TARP funds would be used for deficit reduction.  Now the Obama Administration and the liberal leadership in Congress want to use TARP funds to pay for additional stimulus spending, while saddling us with more growth-stifling debt.

The United States currently faces an urgent fiscal crisis, and if we do not stop spending money, we risk moving further down an unrecoverable path.  As a dedicated fiscal conservative, I will continue pressing to use TARP funds to pay down the $12.1 trillion national debt.  I have signed a letter addressed to Speaker Pelosi urging her to use the TARP funds to pay down the debt instead of a revolving slush fund to promote the liberal agenda. The Republican alternative to the bill would simply end TARP and require that TARP funds go towards debt reduction.

House conservatives believe that the best way to stimulate the economy is to cut taxes and spending drastically. It is time to start trusting and empowering individual Americans instead of the federal government. It is time to let Americans keep more of what they earn and for the government to spend less.  I believe that by taking these steps, our economy will experience the growth and prosperity that have defined America for generations. 

Two Navy SEALs are scheduled to be arraigned in a military court today and another on a date yet to be determined, on charges that they mistreated one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq. The terrorist, Ahmed Hashim Abed, is the alleged mastermind behind the murder and mutilation of four American security contractors in 2004. It is difficult to forget the images of the burned bodies being drug through the streets of Fallujah and hung from a bridge over the Euphrates River. It is even more difficult to comprehend that three of our soldiers are facing a court marshal for Abed’s successful capture.

What has become of our nation when we are providing counsel and constitutional rights for terrorists while we investigate and prosecute our military and intelligence officials?  I cannot in good conscience stand by and let this sort of backward logic drag down the morale of our military and intelligence community. I have signed on to a letter asking Secretary Gates to review the court martial proceedings. I also plan to offer an amendment this week that will crack down on the overzealous prosecution our military and intelligence community. 

We sent our armed forces into combat with the instructions to defeat the terrorists who seek to do us harm. Over the past ten months, we have threatened them with investigations and court proceedings for doing the job we asked of them. The men and women who put their lives on the line each and every day should not have to second guess themselves on the battlefield and neither should we.