U.S. Rep. Austin Scott of Ashburn, who represents most of Middle Georgia, told the Macon Rotary Club on Monday that the federal government must be cut back before its debt overwhelms the nation’s economy.
“We’ve got to have progress. We’ve got to get this country out of this mess,” Scott said.
Scott told The Telegraph that cuts must be made in nearly all parts of the federal budget.
“I don’t think you can exempt any one area,” Scott said, including defense spending. Scott said in his address that if Congress had more time, it would make sure both Social Security and Medicare would be financially sound -- as determined by actuaries -- for the long term, so they could be independent from other government finances.
Scott, the president of the House’s freshman class, said he and other new Republicans have been falsely described in the media as anti-Barack Obama and Tea Party-controlled. Scott said he’s looking to the future of the country for his son and other children and grandchildren in the nation with a budget process that’s gotten out of control and a debt that’s looming.
Federal officials have said the government will run out of money Aug. 2 unless the debt ceiling is raised, allowing the government to borrow more money to fund an unbalanced budget. Scott questioned the deadline, saying many agencies have financial reserves.
Scott said talks have centered on raising the debt ceiling about $2.5 trillion.
“In the past 27 months, the Senate has not passed a budget,” he said.
“In layman’s terms, we’re being asked to increase the federal debt (to) about $2.5 trillion without knowing where the money’s going to go.”
In a handout and his speech, Scott said he couldn’t blame any one person or party for the growing deficits and debts, citing instead nine consecutive years of unsustainable and irresponsible funding. But Scott said Obama hadn’t stepped up until recently to provide leadership, and yet still talks about corporate jets and taxes on the wealthy, which wouldn’t solve a “fraction” of the financial gap.
Scott also blasted Obama’s financial predictions, which show corporate income taxes would rise from $198 billion to $405 billion in two years, while personal income taxes would rise from $956 billion to $1.344 trillion.
“I see no economic indicators that tell me corporations are going to have twice as much profit in 24 months as they do today,” he said. “I pointed that out to (Treasury Secretary) Timothy Geithner and he agreed with me.”
Scott spoke for about 20 minutes in the First Presbyterian Church on Mulberry Street before leaving to catch a flight to Washington, D.C. He said he only found out Friday that Congress was going back in session and offered to return to talk more.
