Americans May Come to the Capitol ‘With Pitchforks and Torches,’ Senator Warns
CNSNews ^ | May 4, 2011 | Susan Jones
(CNSNews.com) – As the Obama administration demands another increase in the U.S. debt limit, Americans taxpayers are demanding spending restraint, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) told the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday.
He said Congress must attach fiscal reforms to legislation increasing the debt ceiling. Hatch also warned his fellow lawmakers what could happen if the fiscal reforms, once enacted, “fall prey to gimmicks, are waived or otherwise undermined.”
“My sense is that the people will come to this Capitol with pitchforks and torches they will be so upset. And they'd be right to do so,” Hatch said.
History shows that fiscal reforms can leave people feeling betrayed and disappointed, when Congress inevitably goes back to its big-spending ways, Hatch said.
For example, he mentioned the pay-go rule, which was supposed to curb deficit spending but ended up costing billions of dollars in additional deficit spending, as Congress found ways to get around the law.
Hatch said that’s just one example of how Congress has responded to calls for spending restraint – and then done an end-run around those restraints.
“This time must be different,” Hatch told the committee in his opening remarks. “This time we must make meaningful and lasting reforms. We must make the fundamental changes to our spending programs that might be tough today, but that will make maintenance of budget discipline easier in the future.
“The fact is, we can’t be having this debate again in another 5 years,” Hatch continued. “We are already nearing a point where it is too late to enact the changes that the markets demand. And failure to act now will have a lasting detrimental impact on families, businesses, and the economy.
“No matter what happens with the debt ceiling, we need to make sure that Congress and the President stick to the fiscal reforms attached to the (debt ceiling) legislation. Both parties must accept responsibility, buckle down, and make the tough decisions, even when it hurts,” Hatch said.
Hatch noted that this is the third time the Obama administration has asked Congress to raise the debt limit. And he pointed to polls showing that the American people believe the problem is too much spending, not too little revenue.
“There is no pulling the wool over the eyes of the people on this issue. There is no spinning the people into thinking that our problem is a lack of revenue. And there is no convincing taxpayers that the solution to out-of-control government spending is giving the government more money to spend.”
As CNSNews.com has reported, some conservatives – Sarah Palin among them – say Congress should refuse to raise the debt limit.
A CBS News/New York Times poll conducted last month showed that 63 percent of Americans oppose raising the debt limit, while only 27 percent support doing so.
Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) agreed that deficit-reduction measures should accompany an increase in the debt ceiling.
Wednesday’s hearing focused on “budget enforcement mechanisms” that would trigger an “automatic response” if certain benchmarks are reached.
Baucus said those automatic responses could include an “across-the board reduction in spending, an increase in revenue (taxes) or a reduction in tax expenditures, or some combination.”
The Finance Committee is hearing testimony on how those automatic triggers might work.
