East Arizona News

U.S. Representative David Schweikert delivered a speech on the House Floor addressing the issue of discretionary spending cuts and the national debt. He emphasized that fighting over these cuts has no impact on reeling in the $34 trillion national debt because every dime of money that Congress votes on is borrowed. Schweikert argued that unless Members of Congress are willing to have difficult conversations about revolutionizing the cost of healthcare, federal deficits will continue to spiral out of control.

In his speech, Schweikert expressed his frustration with the focus on discretionary spending cuts, stating, "What you need to understand is this is a disaster. It’s an absolute disaster. But yet we’re going to sit here and knife each other for months and months and months, over a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of this [$1.1 trillion in projected FY24 gross interest costs] because we don’t want to actually deal with the actual structural crisis."

He further highlighted the need for revolutionary changes in healthcare costs and government, stating, "Basic math — every dime of defense is now borrowed. Every dime of discretionary [spending] now is borrowed. And if you start to look at this math, it’s about $1.4 trillion of Medicare [spending] of the stuff we don’t even get a vote on. Every dime a Member of Congress votes on is now borrowed."

Schweikert criticized the approach of some members who focus on minor spending cuts while ignoring the larger issue of mounting debt. He said, "I have had members here who will, when I start to talk about a deficit commission, where we’re going to have to do major redesign, say, ‘Oh, David, I can’t vote for that. But I will fight like hell to save a few hundred million [dollars] here and there.’ There’s no money. We’re borrowing $85,000 per second, $7.4 billion per day."

Turning his attention to the Democrats, Schweikert accused them of immorality and prioritizing political gains over addressing the impending crisis. He said, "My reason we do this is not to end my political career, but to tell the truth. Is it moral? It’s right in front of us. It’s coming. We know it’s coming. There’s actuarial reports from Social Security, from CBO, from private groups, those around us. And there’s the political ones who just lie to you because they want you to send them a contribution, or they want Democrats to win the next election, which I believe those groups are absolutely immoral."

Schweikert criticized the Democrats for caring more about winning elections than addressing the doubling senior poverty and the number of baby boomers expected to be homeless in a decade. He questioned the leadership in Congress and the lack of action being taken to address the financial crisis.

In conclusion, Schweikert's speech highlighted the urgent need for Congress to address the structural crisis of the national debt and revolutionize healthcare costs. He called for a more proactive approach and criticized the focus on minor spending cuts instead of addressing the larger issue at hand.