Our country is facing a crisis.  If we do not raise our debt ceiling we will default on our obligations.  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says we have to raise the legal limit on federal borrowing by August 2. I have been working with like-minded colleagues to convince the rest of Congress that we must make significant budget cuts and enact serious spending cap mechanism—like a balanced budget amendment—if we raise the debt ceiling so that we don’t have to face this crisis again.

So why the disconnect?

Instead of having a serious conversation with the nation about areas where we can rein in spending, Senate Majority Leader Reid and his caucus are pushing for another “Stimulus”!  The very same failed ideas that increased budget deficits by $830 billion over a 10-year span and failed to bring unemployment down are being rehashed as a cure to our nation’s economic woes. 

The President’s advisors, at the time of the stimulus debate, claimed their plan would keep the unemployment rate below 8%.  Today, over two years later, our national unemployment rate is at 9.1%.

And now they want to try it again?

Pushing to new spending at a time when our economy is collapsing under the weight of this administration’s agenda is nothing short of reckless.  It is a proposal that is out of touch with reality and should not get off the ground.