Dialogue between myself and Congressman Visclosky

This communication may be of no interest to anyone, but I would like to encourage you to reach out to your representatives and try to get the results you want.

Dear Congressman,

Thank you for your service. Let me be brief as I am certain you are incredibly busy. I am beyond disappointed in my government right now. I am 28 years old, and I feel as though my government is creating a mess that I may not live to see us climb out of. I will leave you with these ideas as action points. I realize that my ideas are drastic and that they will hurt a lot of good people, but the time for tough choices has come and gone. The time for amputation of limbs for the body to survive is upon us. Please encourage your fellow congressmen to moxy up and get the job of rescuing our country done.

1. Cut our total spending to 50% of our total income – immediately!
2. Get creative with income.
1. Drill – now is not the time to save trees; it is time to save my kids future.
2. Reward businesses; don’t tax them so heavily. More employees equals more income tax. 
3. Start paying down debt.
4. Hold a businessman’s summit. Invite the top 2 employers in every state. Develop a business plan to rescue our nation. They will help you, and they will want tax breaks. Listen to them. They need the US to thrive, and they know how to make a business succeed financially. 

My dad taught me as a young boy that if your outgo exceeds your income you have a deficit and that’s bad. If your income exceeds your outgo you have a surplus and that’s good.

Please let me know how I can serve you. I want to be a part of the solution here.

Signed

REPLY FROM CONGRESSMAN VISCLOSKY

Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns regarding spending and the national debt.  I appreciate hearing from you.

I share your concerns.  I am deeply frustrated that Congress has repeatedly failed to legislate or make decisions that would fundamentally address our deficit, and instead lurches from one crisis to the next. The debate over the increase in the debt limit in August of 2011 failed to produce a comprehensive plan to reduce the debt, and instead led to the enactment of P.L. 112-25, the Budget Control Act of 2011, and the establishment of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction.  This Committee also failed to reach an agreement on recommendations to Congress to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion over ten years, ultimately triggering the sequestration process, which was initiated on March 1, 2013.  Even the debate over the so-called fiscal cliff this past December led to the enactment of a law that is neither balanced, nor comprehensive, and instead adds $3.97 trillion to our national debt, while leaving some of the most pressing tax and spending issues facing our country unresolved.

I believe that we need to make thoughtful, deliberate, and difficult decisions about reducing our deficit, and I have been working with members from both parties to cut spending where possible, but in a more thoughtful manner than the sequestration process.  As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I worked with my colleagues in both parties to make discrete funding reductions that have already taken effect.  According to the Congressional Budget Office, we have reduced discretionary spending levels by $62 billion from Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 to

FY 2012.  These cuts were made thoughtfully, by evaluating each program on its usefulness to the taxpayer, making cuts to programs that have lost their usefulness while making critical investments where needed. 

I remain cautious of proponents in these debt discussions whom are intransigent in their commitment to not raise revenues and solely cut spending.  I would counter that Congress has already enacted legislation that reduce domestic discretionary spending by $1.4 trillion over the next ten years.  I also would point out that if we had eliminated all non-defense domestic discretionary spending in FY 2012, including funding for programs through the Department of Education, the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, and other federal government programs – and did nothing else – we still would have had a budget deficit of $472 billion for FY 2012.

I believe that if we are to truly address our growing national debt, our tax code must also be reexamined to ensure that more Americans and American companies make a contribution to our shared society.  I am frustrated that current inequalities in our tax code continue to allow some to take advantage of certain tax provisions, and pay a lower effective tax rate than what is fair. According to a study conducted by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, these tax expenditures cost about $1.1 trillion annually.

For instance, according to a report conducted by the Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, from 2008 through 2010, 30 major U.S. corporations made a combined $160 billion in profit and did not pay any federal corporate income tax.  Additionally, in 2010, the top 25 hedge fund managers in the U.S. alone had combined incomes of $22 billion, but paid a lower tax rate than a police officer in Valparaiso, Indiana.  It is wrong that our tax code allows persons of great means to pay a lower tax rate than a person risking his or her life for our society.

That is why I believe that any serious proposal to reduce the debt must be all-encompassing, addressing all spending, including defense and domestic discretionary spending and earned benefits such as Social Security and Medicare, in addition to the other half of the equation: taxes and the inequalities in the tax code.

As debt reduction discussions proceed, I understand that difficult decisions will need to be made about revisions to the tax code and spending programs, and I assure you that I will be actively engaged in these deliberations to ensure such legislation comprehensively addresses our deficit.  It is paramount that we come together as a country during this time to ensure that incremental changes now for every person and every business will have immeasurable benefits in the future for our children and our economy.

Thank you again for contacting me.  Do not hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Peter J. Visclosky

Member of Congress

REPLY FROM ME

Dear Mr. Visclosky,

Thank you for your reply regarding spending and the national debt. May I say excellent work in helping to reduce spending by 62mm from FY 2010. I applaud your resolve and bipartisan efforts to reduce our debt. I am sure that took some very tough choices, but as I mentioned in my last letter; “The time for tough choices has come and gone. The time for amputation of limbs for the body to survive is upon us.” I am happy, but far from satisfied with cutting our discretionary spending by 62mm. I am not satisfied in the least with your answer to raise taxes. Raising taxes is the very last step in a long list of many that we want to see you take. Pardon my blunt attitude sir, but that seems like an easy way out.

A hard choice would be reforming welfare to a “feed the poor” food distribution system instead of a rewarding and enabling of those who qualify. A hard choice would be to take government jobs that are not profitable and selling them off to the private sector. Government officials make horrible businessmen, and your business is failing miserably. I would love to see us start using our natural resources, specifically oil, for our profit. I don’t care how you do it, but we have to make drastic cuts and create revenue in the trillions - and soon.

Please know that this is not a rip face letter. I am just trying to help you see that if you raise our taxes while continuing to spend like a drunken sailor you haven’t helped anyone. You have enabled the US to continue to make unwise choices. You have simply taken more money out of our pocket so that you can feed the beast that is our out of control credit card. I would ask Congress to please stop asking what the American people can do for you. How can you cut spending and increase revenues without gutting my retirement? I know I can’t count on my Social Security, and now you want my savings?   

As to your plan to raise taxes on businesses; that plan would be permissible ONLY IF it were met with an equal plan to give businesses tax cuts for hiring new employees and expanding their enterprises here in the US. A plan to raise the income tax while punishing those who put taxable individuals on your radar seems oxymoron. Why would the US not applaud job, and tax revenue creators?

I thank you for your hard work, sleepless nights, and continuous service, but please make more assertive choices. Please be more creative. Entire villages in third world countries die of starvation just feet from sacred cows that could have saved them had they killed and eaten them. The programs that we won’t cut for whatever reason are the programs that will outlive the greatness of our nation.

Please let me know how I can serve you. I want to be a part of the solution.

Signed Photo credit