Every day our office receives hundreds of phone calls, e-mails, faxes, and letters from people across the 5th District regarding the pressing issues that affect Central and Southside Virginians and all Americans.
Hearing from and listening to constituents on a daily basis is a constant reminder that our top priority in Washington is to serve the people of the 5th District and the people of this country.
To encourage constituents to communicate with their elected officials through new social media outlets, YouTube launched a program called YouTube Town Hall, which allows constituents to pose questions on the most important issues facing our nation, and provides an online platform for Members of Congress to film direct video responses.
This past week, I participated in a YouTube Town Hall. In my video, Washington Has A Spending Problem, I outlined the gravity of our current debt crisis and that we must change course to get our country on more sound fiscal and economic footing to grow our economy, create jobs, and preserve this great nation for our children and grandchildren.
Given the President’s announcement this past week that he wants to push another round of failed, taxpayer-funded stimulus, our spending-driven debt crisis and the need to get our fiscal house in order continue to be issues that must be addressed.
You can watch Washington Has A Spending Problem by visiting hurt.house.gov and you can read the transcript below:
Washington has a spending problem, plain and simple. Since President Obama took office, the national debt has increased by 3.7 trillion dollars, and now stands at over 14 trillion dollars – higher than any time in American history and nearly equal to the size of our entire economy.
With a 1.5 trillion dollar deficit, we are borrowing over 40 cents of every dollar we spend, leaving each American citizen with more than 46 thousand dollars of debt owed to our creditors.
This reckless government spending has very real and negative consequences for the people of Virginia’s 5th District and all Americans. The economic uncertainty it causes is stifling job creation, and Washington’s continued fiscal mismanagement threatens the very future of our country.
That is why setting budget priorities—and more importantly, passing a budget—is necessary now more than ever.
As we work to get our fiscal house in order to help grow the economy and create jobs, the last thing we need is job-destroying tax hikes on our families and small businesses. With far too many 5th District Virginians and Americans out of work, we should not punish taxpayers for Washington’s fiscal irresponsibility at a time when they can least afford it.
Washington has a spending problem, not a ‘we don’t tax people enough’ problem, and for the sake of our children and grandchildren, we must rectify this debt crisis by making the tough but necessary choices to force Washington to live within its means, so that we can preserve the American dream for future generations.
If you need any additional information on these or any other issues, please visit my website at
Robert Hurt is a United States congressman.
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