[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9924-9925]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  OLD-FASHIONED ECONOMIC COMMON SENSE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Broun) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, my constituents know that 
Washington could learn a lot from using just some good old-fashioned 
Georgia common sense. I want to tell you a quick story. Earlier this 
month after one of my town hall meetings, a mayor from a small town in 
my district came up to tell me about the hard times that her city has 
been dealing with recently. Unemployment has shot through the roof, and 
many businesses in Hoschton, Georgia, have been forced to downsize or 
shut down completely. The mayor told me about how tough times have also 
required her to make some bold choices about Hoschton's budget. 
Ultimately in efforts to keep the town afloat, she ended up slashing 
their budget by a whopping 67 percent. The mayor said to me, 
``Everything has to be put on the table. Nothing can be impossible to 
cut.''
  My liberal Democrat colleagues need to take note. It's long past time 
for the Obama administration to stop spending money like there's no 
tomorrow. There is a tomorrow, even though right now, with over 9 
percent unemployment, that tomorrow is looking pretty bleak.

                              {time}  1110

  America's runaway spending has gotten so far out of control that it's 
hard get a grasp on the amount of debt our Nation is in or how long it 
will take us to repay the almost $14\1/2\ trillion that we have 
borrowed.
  Americans don't want excuses anymore; they want solutions. They want 
less spending and more jobs. They want burdensome regulations removed 
from the backs of small businesses who can put so many more people back 
to work.

[[Page 9925]]

They want more free choice and less big government when it comes to 
their day-to-day lives.
  Washington needs to follow the lead of small cities, small 
businesses, and families who are tightening their belts all across this 
country. That small Georgia town in my district that cut 67 percent of 
their budget to deal with their financial crisis ought to be a model 
and a blueprint for the Obama administration and for Congress.

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