The Hill News

At the eleventh hour last Friday, leadership in Congress and the Administration came to an agreement on how to proceed with this year’s spending bill in order to prevent a government shutdown. Was anyone happy about the agreement that was made? Certainly not, but my conviction on the vote was without a doubt dependent upon our troops getting paid. 

Under no circumstances can we ask our men and women in uniform to fight in three wars but not pay them. If Congress failed to pass the bill by Friday at midnight, soldiers all around the world, fighting on the frontlines for our freedom, would not have received a paycheck for their service. The domino effect could have been disastrous, as many of their family members are dependent upon that money to keep their family secure.

This agreement is a start, but certainly not the finish of the spending debate. There’s no doubt about it â€" our government is overweight, and it’s time we put it on a diet.! You can’t lose all the weight over night â€" but you have to start somewhere. Now, we’re starting a bigger debate and fight on the 2012 budget, where we are going to be talking about cutting trillions instead of billions. It’s going to take lots of discipline and patience over the years, but we have to work towards balancing the budget. 

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