OK Lawmakers Urge Congress to Oppose Raising Debt Limit

OKLAHOMA CITY (April 15, 2011) – A resolution filed by four state lawmakers today urges Congress to oppose raising the national debt limit, saying that any increase would be "economically and fiscally irresponsible."

"Why on earth would the representatives of the people vote to increase our debt limit?" said state Rep. John Bennett, R-Sallisaw. "We the people don’t increase our credit card limits when we have already maxed out our credit. We budget better and live within our means to pay off our debt. The federal government should do the same."

"Our nation is going broke. When you’re in a hole, at some point you’ve got to stop digging," said state Rep. Rusty Farley, R-Haworth. "Increasing the national debt limit will increasingly mortgage our children and grandchildren’s future. It is morally and financially indefensible."

"There is an alternative to raising the debt – cutting spending," said state Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City. "The idea that our nation’s fiscal problems will be solved by additional debt is ludicrous and simply delays the inevitable cuts that must be made to put our nation on a path to financial solvency."

"Raising the debt limit means government spending will continue to crowd out private funds and deny entrepreneurs access to the funding needed to start companies and hire new employees," said state Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow. "Adding to the national debt harms our weak economy and denies opportunity to private citizens."

The resolution notes that the United States currently has a debt in excess of $14 trillion and that the U.S. Congress is preparing to debate legislation to allow the government to incur even greater debt.

House Resolution 1028 declares that "even the current amount of indebtedness represents an intolerable fiscal burden for the United States" and that "the current rate of growth in the U.S. economy is not sufficient to justify the current level of debt and is therefore completely inadequate to support any additional borrowing by the United States.

As a result, the measure declares that "under no circumstances should the United States Congress even consider a measure to increase the current debt limit."

The resolution concludes by calling on the Congress of the United States "to exercise fiscal and economic restraint and not increase the current level of authorized federal indebtedness which has already reached a dangerous and unsupportable level."