s you may know, H.R. 2920, the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2009 (PAYGO), was recently passed in the House of Representatives with my strong support. This legislation re-establishes the principles of fiscal responsibility that are necessary to return to a balanced federal budget.
Balancing the budget was my number one priority as a member of the House Budget Committee during the 1990s. Later that decade, during the Clinton administration, we achieved that goal. PAYGO principles – which dictate that any federal spending or tax cuts must be offset to not increase the deficit, were an important part of that effort. Unfortunately, the PAYGO provisions were allowed to expire by the Bush administration and record deficits and a doubling of our national debt followed.
Returning to the premise that to spend a dollar you must save one elsewhere is just common sense. It is a budget principle followed by responsible families everyday and is evident in the sharp increase in the nation’s savings rate over the last year.
H.R. 2920 has been sent to the Senate where it is currently before the Budget Committee. I am hopeful that PAYGO will become law and that we can begin the work of restoring fiscal responsibility. We must not continue to create debt that will be a burden on future generations.
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Sincerely,
Jerry F. Costello
12th District of Illinois
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