DeMint Wants to Force Senate Vote on Pelosi Earmark Ban

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) on Monday announced he would try to force a Senate vote on a one-year earmark ban being floated by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democratic leaders.

Pelosi floated the idea of enacting a one-year moratorium on earmarks during a leadership meeting Tuesday. Pelosi and other top Democrats have resisted similar proposals in the past. The idea comes as Democrats try to move beyond some recent ethical scandals in a critical election year.

Senate sources say it’s likely DeMint will offer a motion to suspend the rules during the end of the debate on the jobs package currently before the Senate.

“Nancy Pelosi and I don’t agree on many things, but if she’s willing to take a stand for taxpayers, I’ll work with her to put an end to the earmark favor factory,” DeMint said. “The Senate will have the opportunity this week to stand with Americans and put a stop to this wasteful spending. Our nation is drowning in debt that will be paid by our children, and we’ll never stop Washington’s spending addiction unless members of both parties take bold action.”

http://www.rollcall.com/news/43929-1.html

[Peikko 1,575]

Our children will pay it back? In what dream world of economic expansion does that eventuality manifest itself?

[SMR 368]

Our children will pay it back? In what dream world of economic expansion does that eventuality manifest itself?

Who did you think would pay it back? Also, DeMint did not say that our children would pay it back, only that they would pay it. I have very little expectation that the US government intends to pay off the principal.

Yet, even if the principal of the debt is never paid off, the government is already saddled with interest payments on that principal. Those interest payments on the current national debt are around $300-$500 billion a year, depending on the interest rates, etc. This amount almost accounts for the federal budget deficit. That is, if we hadn't borrowed money in the past, we wouldn't need to be borrowing money right now. And that is during this period of record spending and economic downturn. If the US government had come into this crisis with a clean slate, it would almost have one right now.

In other words, we are already paying for the debt that was incurred in the past. Whether that debt was incurred by our parents, our grandparents, or us last year, is really not the issue. The question is not "how would this manifest itself?" It already is. The real question is why do you expect this effect to stop manifesting itself? Unless you think the US should default on its debts or hyperinflate the dollar, we and are children are inevitably going to continue paying for this debt.

Edited March 8, 2010 by SMR