Indiana’s junior senator is all about bringing down the nation’s debt, and he’s once again calling for change in Congress.
During a speech Wednesday, Senator Mike Braun called for the banning of ‘earmarks’ – that’s government speak for additions to a bill that don’t necessarily have to do with the overall legislation, and they can cost a lot of money. Braun says too many politicians are used to tacking on unnecessary additions to bills, and the millions of dollars spent eventually add up.
“Just a little over five years ago, we were eighteen-trillion-dollars in debt,” Senator Braun continues, “borrowing at the tune of a trillion dollars a year.”
Braun says that number has skyrocketed to about 35-trillion-dollars in debt and about one-trillion-dollars borrowed every six months. Braun has always maintained that Congress isn’t taking that money away from you, but your kids and grandchildren. Indiana’s senator says that money slowly builds overtime.
Braun explains, “five years ago, it was about twenty cents of that dollar that we had to borrow. Now, its thirty cents.”
The interest accumulated on that 35-trillion-dollars in national debt alone could rival what the United States spends on defense, says Senator Braun.
He believes a significant step towards bringing down the nation’s debt, aside from banning earmarks, are term limits and a required balanced budget amendment.
