If you visited the President’s website, you might think that Washington’s spending problem is under control.

Lines that suggest President Obama has “led the way on structuring the government to live within its means” and “the Administration has moved to eliminate wasteful spending, streamline what works, and modernize how government operates to save money and improve performance” would give you the impression that everything is rosy and going according to plan.

So, how then, does the White House reconcile that rhetoric with the fact that our national debt has now passed the $18 trillion mark? It appears by ignoring this alarming trend all together, and not commenting on it despite once saying it was “unpatriotic” to add $4 trillion to the debt.

Come January, Republicans will control both chambers of Congress, allowing us to put our commitment to cut Washington’s wasteful spending into action. I believe we can find a mechanism, like a Balanced Budget Amendment, that will stop the government from spending beyond its means. If Arkansas can be required to balance our state’s budget, there is no reason that we shouldn’t be able to require Washington to do the same.

The national debt is a threat to our sovereignty. Foreign holdings account for almost half of these obligations, and much of that is owed to countries that do not always share our values—such as China and Saudi Arabia. We must end the excessive spending and put our nation back on a fiscally responsible path. The road we are on right now certainly isn’t fair to future generations. We can’t keep kicking the can down the road. In fact, it has been kicked so far down the road it is out of view.