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The problems of the nation may be great, but there are ways to solve them. On Wednesday, Congressman Charles Boustany, Jr. (R-Southwest Louisiana) traveled to Vinton to offer insight and solutions to some major issues the United States is facing.
"Right now our country is faced with a number of major problems. Our state's got problems. We've got massive debt. The debt that's calculated by the federal government is $14.3 trillion. Basically divide that number by the number of people we have in the country today, it's about $45,000 for every man, woman and child in the country,” stated Boustany. “If you do a different kind of accounting and look at that, what are the unfunded liabilities? Looking at growth of Medicare, Social Security and the problems we've have with all of those things, that number is actually much higher than $45,000 for everybody. The debt today equals the size of the entire U.S. economy."
According to Boustany, the U.S. currently has a great credit rating but that may soon change.
"Two of these credit agencies just issued a warning saying they may downgrade our debt unless we do something. That's very serious. That means that interest rates would go up. If you want to borrow money, it will cost you more to borrow money. At a time when unemployment is high, it will hurt job growth and growth of business. It will be a bad thing for the U.S. economy and for all of us."
Boustany next spoke of the problems with energy security in the U.S.
"We are far too dependent on foreign oil. At the same time, this country has never had an energy strategy. Now we're seeing high prices again and concerns about what's going on in the Middle East. The current administration on top of that has chosen to punish current energy production. It shuts down the Gulf and is proposing new taxes on American independent producers. That's not going to give us a lower price at the pump."
Boustany then turned to issues with the health care system.
"Health care costs continue to go up. We have major problems there. Many Americans are concerned about Medicare. I'm concerned about it, as a doctor, as somebody who took care of a lot of Medicare patients. Here's the problem though. The Medicare trustees just came out with a report that said that if we leave Medicare as it is today, it's going to go bankrupt in several years. We're on a spending trajectory with it that's not sustainable. In fact, I mentioned a debt of $14.3 trillion. The unfunded liability of the Medicare program if you really take it out 75 years, is actually about $31 trillion because of the growth of seniors going onto the program, technology and health care costs. And yet, last year was the first time with Medicare that the program paid out more than it took in in payroll taxes. There have been no real solutions to that."
Even though the U.S. is faced with many problems, Boustany said that there are ways to repair them.
"Number one, we have to grow the U.S. economy. We have to stimulate job growth. Right now we have 9.1 percent unemployment. At the same time, we have to lay out a credible plan of how we're going to pay down this debt.”
According to Boustany, 47 percent of the U.S. debt today is owned by foreign countries and the number one holder of that debt is China.
“Right now the debt is about 60 percent of the economy. It won't be long until our debt is up to 200 percent of the economy.”
The annual deficit is about $1.6 trillion.
"That's what we have to get a handle on. That's the problem."
Boustany offered four main solutions to the nation's problems with waste in the budget.
"To fix this, we need an energy strategy. It starts with allowing drilling and investing in the development of alternative fuels so we can diversify the sources of energy. The good news is we have the shale formations now that will probably provide a hundred years of natural gas that we can use as a transition for whatever comes next. "
"Secondly, we need a credible plan to balance budgets and pay down the debt."
"Thirdly, we need to reform the tax code. It is very complicated. It's hurting business growth and it's hurting our competitiveness."
"Fourth, we need to expand our foreign trade, especially exports, and thereby create a stimulus to build out our infrastructure. We are exporting less and less to outside countries. "
The problems of the nation may be great, but there are ways to solve them. On Wednesday, Congressman Charles Boustany, Jr. (R-Southwest Louisiana) traveled to Vinton to offer insight and solutions to some major issues the United States is facing.
"Right now our country is faced with a number of major problems. Our state's got problems. We've got massive debt. The debt that's calculated by the federal government is $14.3 trillion. Basically divide that number by the number of people we have in the country today, it's about $45,000 for every man, woman and child in the country,” stated Boustany. “If you do a different kind of accounting and look at that, what are the unfunded liabilities? Looking at growth of Medicare, Social Security and the problems we've have with all of those things, that number is actually much higher than $45,000 for everybody. The debt today equals the size of the entire U.S. economy."
According to Boustany, the U.S. currently has a great credit rating but that may soon change.
"Two of these credit agencies just issued a warning saying they may downgrade our debt unless we do something. That's very serious. That means that interest rates would go up. If you want to borrow money, it will cost you more to borrow money. At a time when unemployment is high, it will hurt job growth and growth of business. It will be a bad thing for the U.S. economy and for all of us."
Boustany next spoke of the problems with energy security in the U.S.
"We are far too dependent on foreign oil. At the same time, this country has never had an energy strategy. Now we're seeing high prices again and concerns about what's going on in the Middle East. The current administration on top of that has chosen to punish current energy production. It shuts down the Gulf and is proposing new taxes on American independent producers. That's not going to give us a lower price at the pump."
Boustany then turned to issues with the health care system.
"Health care costs continue to go up. We have major problems there. Many Americans are concerned about Medicare. I'm concerned about it, as a doctor, as somebody who took care of a lot of Medicare patients. Here's the problem though. The Medicare trustees just came out with a report that said that if we leave Medicare as it is today, it's going to go bankrupt in several years. We're on a spending trajectory with it that's not sustainable. In fact, I mentioned a debt of $14.3 trillion. The unfunded liability of the Medicare program if you really take it out 75 years, is actually about $31 trillion because of the growth of seniors going onto the program, technology and health care costs. And yet, last year was the first time with Medicare that the program paid out more than it took in in payroll taxes. There have been no real solutions to that."
Even though the U.S. is faced with many problems, Boustany said that there are ways to repair them.
"Number one, we have to grow the U.S. economy. We have to stimulate job growth. Right now we have 9.1 percent unemployment. At the same time, we have to lay out a credible plan of how we're going to pay down this debt.”
According to Boustany, 47 percent of the U.S. debt today is owned by foreign countries and the number one holder of that debt is China.
“Right now the debt is about 60 percent of the economy. It won't be long until our debt is up to 200 percent of the economy.”
The annual deficit is about $1.6 trillion.
"That's what we have to get a handle on. That's the problem."
Boustany offered four main solutions to the nation's problems with waste in the budget.
"To fix this, we need an energy strategy. It starts with allowing drilling and investing in the development of alternative fuels so we can diversify the sources of energy. The good news is we have the shale formations now that will probably provide a hundred years of natural gas that we can use as a transition for whatever comes next. "
"Secondly, we need a credible plan to balance budgets and pay down the debt."
"Thirdly, we need to reform the tax code. It is very complicated. It's hurting business growth and it's hurting our competitiveness."
"Fourth, we need to expand our foreign trade, especially exports, and thereby create a stimulus to build out our infrastructure. We are exporting less and less to outside countries. "
