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Townhall
Uniting Congress
By Linda Chavez
The attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the murder
of six others in Tucson have transfixed the nation for the past week.
But as horrific as those events were, Congress has little choice but to
move on. There is little Congress can do about what happened in Tucson
-- or ensure something like it won't ever happen again. It is hubris to
believe otherwise. What members of Congress owe their fallen colleague
-- and the American people -- is to return to the business of
legislating. And few periods in recent history offered greater
legislative challenges than those facing the 112th Congress.
The nation faces a mountain of debt, estimated at more than $14
trillion, or more than $45,000 for every person living in the United
States today. The new Republican majority in the House has promised to
cut spending in order to help close the deficit and keep long-term debt
from rising. They'll have the chance over the next several weeks as
they move to fund government beyond the continuing resolution that
expires March 4. Republicans would like to cut $100 billion out of
President Obama's 2011 budget, even before the president gets a chance
to present his 2012 budget expected sometime in February. But doing so
will require deep cuts in existing programs, and Republicans have
already taken off the table those related to Defense, Homeland
Security, and Veterans Affairs.
But the real problem with out-of-control spending is entitlements.
Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid already take up 41 percent of
all federal spending, excluding interest on the national debt. And
these entitlements cannot help but grow under current policies since
the two largest programs are age-related and we are an aging
population. An additional 77 million baby boomers will begin turning 65
this year and thus become eligible for benefits. We must make changes
in these programs to keep them solvent and stop them from bankrupting
the country.
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