Fixing the national debt: The cut, cap and balance pledge

Recently I took my family to the Clark Planetarium in downtown Salt Lake City. As we sat listening to the guide, we were amazed to learn that there are over 100 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Obviously impressed, the people around us began to try to comprehend that number, 100 billion.

I was not as easily impressed and, in fact, sat in horror as I wrestled with the comparative perspective between the number of stars I can see on a clear night and another even larger number — the massive national debt.

For most of us, it seems outside the realm of understanding that the national debt is now approaching $15 trillion. Our current deficit, which is that amount we are overspending each year, is nearing $2 trillion.

Shocking facts like these drove an angry electorate in November and an organization I am proud to be affiliated with, Pass the Balanced Budget Amendment, to begin to tell Congress that their tax-and-spend ways must change.

After consulting with my friend Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, I drafted and passed a resolution on behalf of the Utah Legislature urging Congress to pass a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Many in Congress are now listening.

With much anticipation, fiscal conservatives in Washington rolled out the cut, cap and balance pledge, a pledge that calls on Congress to implement these three ideals:

Cut — Substantial cuts in spending that will reduce the deficit next year and thereafter.

Cap — Enforceable spending caps that will put federal spending on a path to a balanced budget.

Balance — Congressional passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — but only if it includes both a spending limitation and a super-majority for raising taxes, in addition to balancing revenues and expenses.

Tough economic times have families, businesses and local governments making hard choices to balance their budgets. Sometimes we all have to cut back on the things we want, but not in Washington. Tax and spend liberals have us careening towards the cliff of insolvency. The cut, cap and balance pledge is a step in the right direction and will put us on track to regain our fiscal strength.