By Rep. Kristi Noem

I ran for Congress last year because like many South Dakotans, I realized that Washington was broken.  While some progress has been made in the right direction to get this nation back on the right fiscal track, Washington is still very broken.  I’ve been here for six months and my biggest realization, at this point into my service, is that the brokenness is much worse than I ever imagined. 

South Dakotans sense the brokenness too.  They are frustrated with it and I hear about it when I am at home in the state visiting with folks.  It’s extremely frustrating to me as well.  I agree with everyone who says that Washington “just doesn’t get it.”  There are some people in Congress that want to change the direction of this country, but there are still too many that just don’t get it.  Washington is still broken. 

The latest example is the ongoing debate over raising our nation’s debt ceiling.  Our nation currently has $14 trillion in debt.  Let that number sink in.  One trillion $1 bills stacked one on top of the other would reach nearly 68,000 miles into the sky, or about a third of the way from the Earth to the moon. 

Fourteen trillion is, of course, 14 times that amount.

Now the President is requesting that Congress increase the limit to over $16 trillion. 

The debate is very simple: Republicans have clearly stated for months that before Congress considers increasing the limit on our credit card, we need to get our spending habits under control.  My House Republican colleagues and I have been very clear that the federal government cannot continue to spend and spend without real reforms that put permanent restraints on Washington.

Some will ask, what reforms can be made that will truly, once and for all, get Washington spending under control?  I believe one plan that could accomplish this goal is the “Cut, Cap & Balance” plan, which has three main points. 

First, if passed, the plan would cut total spending by $111 billion in the next fiscal year, reducing non-defense discretionary spending below 2008 levels (discretionary spending refers to spending decided each year by Congress through the appropriations process.  This differs from mandatory spending, which covers expenditures on entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security).  Second, the plan would put into place caps on federal government expenditures to get the amount of money the government spends each year back down to a sustainable rate in line with the historical average.  Finally, this measure would allow for the President’s request to increase the debt ceiling only if a Balanced Budget Amendment with strong protections against federal tax increases is passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification.

I am pleased the House will consider this plan soon.  People in South Dakota realize, quite frankly, the lunacy of continuing to spend money that we simply do not have.  The “Cut, Cap & Balance” plan would help stop the lunacy.