[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 61 (Friday, April 24, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4722-S4723]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HATCH:
  S. 897. A bill to limit Federal spending to 20 percent of GDP; to the 
Committee on the Budget.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Limitation On 
Government Spending Act of 2009. This legislation will set limits on 
the amount of Government spending in comparison to the Nation's gross 
domestic product.
  Abraham Lincoln once said, ``You cannot keep out of trouble by 
spending more than you earn.'' While we remain in an economic 
recession, the Obama administration continues to spend our way out of 
it, disregarding the future consequences.
  As we continue on this route of reckless government spending, we 
continue to increase our debt that will be passed down to our children, 
grandchildren, and many generations to come. The only way to repay this 
debt is to increase taxes. That is why I believe it is so important 
that we restrict ourselves from spending too much, especially during 
this economic recession.
  At a time when Utahns and Americans are tightening their wallets, 
this budget grows the size of Government, excluding nondefense-related 
spending in just 2 years by 22 percent.
  Many Americans, as demonstrated last week through TEA parties, are 
asking if this Government spending will ever stop. After trillions for 
bailouts and other Government spending, this budget makes no hard 
choices to reform runaway spending.

  I keep hearing my friends on the other side of the aisle eagerly 
point out that President Bush never vetoed a spending bill. While I may 
agree that the former President should have restricted more in 
Government spending, President Obama's budget spends more than 
President Bush's did every year, even after adjusting for inflation.
  Furthermore, the spending in this budget is so massive that 
independent estimates suggest roughly 250,000 new Government 
bureaucrats may be needed to spend it all. While President Obama would 
like to claim this as job growth, I think this is a false sense of 
economic recovery. Long after our economy has hopefully recovered, we 
will need to continue financing these new 250,000 new Government 
bureaucrats through, you guessed it, more Government spending.
  My Republican colleagues want to work with the President to improve 
the economy. This should be done by focusing on the issues that are 
hurting Americans the most. Fixing housing, reforming financial 
markets, developing clean energy and providing affordable health care 
are all common goals that both sides of the aisle share. But President 
Obama's European-style approach to achieve these goals is to socialize 
America--to spend, spend, spend and not worry about the enormous price 
tag it will leave.
  If you look at the proposed budget, you can see the reckless 
spending. This budget increases discretionary spending by $490 billion 
over 5 years, and it promises much more spending than that--$1.3 
trillion over 5 years--through 27 reserve funds. The total spending in 
this budget is $3.9 trillion in 2009, or 28 percent of GDP, the highest 
level as a share of the GDP since World War II. This is absurd.
  How can we tell the American public, who are budgeting themselves and 
making sacrifices, that we are going to spend our way out of this, then 
come back to them and tax them until they are back in the same 
position? It is ludicrous.

  We are moving toward what I call the Europeanization of America. To 
understand what I mean, it is helpful to compare European countries' 
total government spending as a percentage of GDP with our Nation's 
Government spending. In France, for example, government spending is 
close to 50 percent of GDP. England's government spending is roughly 44 
percent of GDP. In Germany, government spending is 45 percent of GDP. 
In the US Federal Government spending has been around 20 percent. 
However, to accurately compare the US to European nations, it is 
necessary to include state and local spending. Once that is factored 
in, US Government spending exceeds 37 percent of GDP, and that is 
before President Obama's stimulus package and budget for this year are 
taken into account. Thus, it is almost a forgone conclusion that by the 
end of this year, total government spending in the US will be in line 
with most European governments. Do we really want to move toward this 
Europeanization of America?
  Despite what you may hear, trivial attempts to cutback will not make 
an impact on Government spending. This past week, President Obama 
admirably asked his administration to trim $100 million in Government 
spending. While this amount would be significant a century ago, it 
doesn't do much today to reduce government spending. This cut would 
amount to just 1/400 of 1 percent of total Federal spending for fiscal 
year 2009. The Federal Government spends $100 million about every 13 
minutes. So, while President Obama's restraint on Government spending 
is admirable, it is just a drop in the bucket for what we really need 
to achieve.
  It is time for us to take a stand on Government spending. We need to 
show self-discipline when dealing with Government spending. Since World 
War II, Federal spending has been between 18 and 22 percent of GDP. I 
am calling upon my colleagues to restrict Government spending to the 
historical average of 20 percent. This limitation may be waived by an 
approval of 3/5 of members of this body.
  It is time that we restrict government spending. It will cause us to 
make some tough decisions about what is really important. One thing is 
certain, we cannot continue down the path we are headed. We owe it to 
our children and grandchildren to change

[[Page S4723]]

course and get back on the path to fiscal sanity.

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