ALG on Deficit Commission: “We don’t have 30 years to balance the budget”

November 11th, 2010, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson issued the following statement on the preliminary recommendations of the Obama deficit commission:

“The deficit commission does not contemplate a balanced budget until 2040. It never contemplates reducing the overall $13.7 trillion debt, which will continue to grow year-on-end. The American people want to pay down and retire the national debt, not continue to grow it. We don’t have 30 years to balance the budget.

“If Congress does not act to balance the budget and begin reducing the debt immediately, next year the Federal Reserve will become the number one holder of U.S. debt. Failure to act now will mean the debt will soar past 100 percent of the Gross Domestic Product in just a few short years. By 2018, if not sooner, our Triple-A credit rating will be downgraded. In fact, China has already taken the step of downgrading us.  The commission’s recommendations, if enacted today, would not prevent one of these things from happening, meaning higher costs to paying the debt in the future, and a weaker dollar. Ultimately, the dollar will lose its special status as the world’s reserve currency.

“By failing to outline the consequences of doing nothing, the commission starts out in exactly the wrong place. Because it does not contemplate the real problems posed by the unsustainable debt, it offers the wrong solutions. The commission focuses on gradually reducing the deficit, which is the wrong premise, when Congress needs to focus on reducing and eventually paying off the $13.7 trillion national debt. Before it has even presented its final findings, Obama’s commission has failed.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

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