A friend received the following email from Sen Harry Reid;
Dear M XXXXXXXXXXXXX:
Thank you for contacting me. I appreciate hearing from you and agree with you about the importance of restoring fiscal discipline in Washington.As you probably know, this year’s federal deficit is expected to be about $1.5 trillion. Meanwhile, our debt exceeds $ 14 trillion and is growing rapidly. Perhaps even more importantly, in coming decades, as the baby boomers retire and projected health care costs increase, our nation is on an unsustainable long-term fiscal path. It is important that leaders in both parties work together to address this problem.
One important way to restore fiscal discipline is to abide by so-called “pay-as-you-go,” or “PAYGO” rules. Under PAYGO, all new mandatory spending or tax breaks must be fully offset, so that it does not increase the deficit. In the last Congress, I sponsored legislation, H.J.Res. 45, to put the PAYGO rules into law. These rules proved to be very successful in the 1990’s, and helped the government achieve a budget surplus. So I was pleased when my legislation was approved and signed into law by the President last year.
The PAYGO rules will help, but they alone will not solve the long-term deficit problem. We also need to conduct a thorough review of all federal spending and eliminate waste wherever we find it. In addition, we need to do a better job of closing tax loopholes and cracking down on cheaters who cost the government literally hundreds of billions of dollars every year. All of this will be difficult, but it needs to happen, and it is essential that we work together to solve the problem.
Again, thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. I appreciate it and look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
My best wishes to you.
Sincerely,
A
HARRY REID
United States Senator
NevadaHR:BK
This definitely shows Harry cares – if you believe it.