Last week, the Senate invited a variety of experts to travel to Missouri and meet with us to discuss a growing problem involving excessive federal growth and spending. It is clear that our federal government in Washington has become drunk on money and power. As politicians have attempted to curry favor with voters through pork-barrel spending, the squandering of the inheritance owed to our children and grandchildren has increased at alarming rates.
Sadly, too many individuals from both parties and across many different presidential administrations appear to have caught a severe case of “Potomac Fever” from living too long in our nation’s capital. This particular disease manifests itself in a variety of ways, but one of the most noticeable symptoms is that its sufferers will lose any appetite or ability to rein in debt spending or to refrain from excessive bureaucratic overregulation.
This profligate spending and excessive regulation imposed by elected officials and unelected bureaucrats has very real consequences. It has become a serious drag on our nation’s economy, hampering our ability to create good-paying, stable jobs for our citizens and loading our children down with a crushing burden of debt.
Although most people would agree that our federal system is not working as intended by our nation’s founders and federal overreach is at a breaking point, there is considerable apathy since citizens often believe there is really nothing they can do about it. State legislators often share this malaise, knowing that regardless of how well we try to manage Missouri’s budget, the waste and borrowing in Washington makes our efforts seem paltry indeed as the current federal debt recently topped $18 trillion dollars.
Simply put, if we were to donate Missouri’s entire yearly budget to try to pay off Washington’s debt, it wouldn’t even cover the yearly interest payments. In fact, if we were able to freeze the interest and just pay off the principle, it would take more than a thousand years to do so!
While the challenge seems nearly insurmountable, after what I heard this week, I am encouraged. States around our nation, sensing the danger, are linking arms to force Washington to get its house in order or stated bluntly - we will do it for them.
Our Founders never envisioned the federal government becoming this powerful and they wisely installed a “safety valve” in the text of Art. V of the Constitution that allows two thirds of the states to propose an amendment to curb federal overreach. If such amendment is ratified by three quarters of the states, it will become law.
We believe that the first order of business is to require the President and Congress to balance the federal budget. At my direction, senators from Show Me State have been traveling around the country to meet with other state legislators to lay the foundation for multistate cooperation. Also, plans are underway to file important legislation in the next few days in order to put Missouri squarely in the forefront of this noble effort.
With leadership sadly lacking in Congress and in the Oval Office on this issue, it falls to the states, who in the beginning of our nation created the federal government to perform only a limited number of duties, to now rein in the abuses we have witnessed. I know of no other entity capable of doing so and Washington almost certainly won’t reform itself. We believe we can be successful in our efforts and for the sake of future generations, we simply must not fail.
I always appreciate hearing from you. If you have any questions about the topics discussed above, or any other issues, please do not hesitate to contact my office.
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