A Time for Leadership on Spending - By Ted Cruz

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/271265/time-leadership-spending-ted-cruz

If the debt ceiling is not increased, the Treasury can — and should — continue to honor our debt in perpetuity. Instead of a default, what will be required is a substantial decrease in government spending (akin to a government “shutdown”) until the issue is resolved.

President Obama’s scare tactics, warning of a debt default and a global economic meltdown, are not productive. Instead, the president should listen to the voice of the people — expressed overwhelmingly at the ballot box in 2010.

Voters, quite rightly, are fed up with politicians spending more than we can afford, constantly expanding the size and power of the federal government. Voters instead want a return to limited government that lives within our means, protects our liberty, and honors the Constitution.

As a candidate for Senate, I have signed Senator DeMint’s Cut-Cap-Balance pledge, and I urge other candidates and current members of Congress to do the same.

The most important part of that pledge is the third element — not to raise the debt ceiling until Congress passes (not proposes, but actually passes) a strong balanced-budget amendment, which would include (1) a constitutional requirement that the budget be balanced, (2) a supermajority requirement to raise taxes, and (3) a spending cap, tied to a fixed percentage of GDP.

Posted via email from The Blue Pelican