But also adds that if there is going to be a crisis, “I’d rather it be on my watch, than my children’s watch.”
WASHINGTON, DC – In a speech yesterday morning to a breakfast meeting of The Ripon Society, Texas Congressman Jeb Hensarling — the Chairman of the House Republican Conference and the fourth ranking Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives — expressed optimism that an agreement will be reached to raise the Nation’s debt limit before the August 2nd deadline set by the Treasury Department. But in a cautionary note, he also added that if an agreement to raise the debt limit cannot be reached and a crisis cannot be averted, “I’d rather it be on my watch, than my children’s watch.”
“I think it is important that people step back and wonder why we are where we are,” Hensarling stated. “From the perspective of House Republicans, we voted against the President’s $1.1 trillion stimulus plan. We voted against the $1.4 trillion takeover of our health care system by the Government. We voted against his program, Nancy Pelosi’s program and Harry Reid’s program, that increased garden variety government spending, also known as non-defense discretionary spending, by 24 percent in two years — an unparalleled spending spree the likes of which this nation has not seen since World War II. We voted against all this spending, we have a debt crisis, and now the President expects us to raise taxes on you for all the spending we voted against. For most House Republicans, it feels like somewhat of a surreal moment. The President says, ‘You got to eat your peas.’ Well, I’ve yet to see the President eat his peas.
“It is time for the President of the United States of America to put his plan on the table. It’s not just time — it’s beyond time. The last time I had an opportunity to meet with the President — about a month ago, when he invited all of the House Republicans over to the White House — I asked the President point blank: ‘Mr. President, will you put forth a plan that solves the national debt crisis and is scoreable by CBO? If so, when will you do it?’ The answer was, ‘No, not going to do it.’ Now, my rough interpretation of what he had to say was, ‘We are very happy to demagogue your plan because we care about the next election. But as far as putting a plan on the table that saves the next generation? No, I’m not willing to do that.’ That was my interpretation of what the President had to say.
“I do believe that sooner as opposed to later there will be a debt ceiling increase passed. I think the stakes are high. They’re very high. It is very, very dumb for the U.S. Government to allow August 2nd to come and to default on any aspect of its commitments. What is dumber is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. That’s not just dumber, but it’s the classic definition of insanity. Most House conservatives believe that the window of opportunity to deal with our Nation’s debt crisis is nearing. And that as a Nation we have a handful of years to get this right before we frankly cease to be a Republic of limited government and unlimited opportunity and we turn the corner and we begin to morph into a European style social democracy and become essentially a social welfare state.”
“I do not believe that we will get to the point of crisis. But if there is going to be one, I’d rather it be on my watch than my children’s watch. If the President of the United States believes that House Republicans are going to increase taxes on small businesses and the American people to pay for his spending spree, the President is wrong. If the President believes that House Republicans are going to give him yet another blank check to bankrupt our children, the President is wrong. If the President is willing to sit down and put a plan on the table and start to do something about the future drivers of our structural debt — and we all know what they are, they’re our large entitlements spending programs — the Republicans will swallow our peas.”
The Ripon Society is a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 – Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.