Letter to our NM U.S. Senator regarding our exploding U.S. Debt w/speedy response

[Jake Martinez]

What follows is a letter that I sent to our NM U.S. Senator Tom Udall regarding of outrages U.S. Debt:

“May 23, 2010

Dear Senator Udall:

I find it extremely disturbing and demeaning when politicians continue to blatantly paint a rosy picture, as it relates to our financial economic status, especially when numerous other non-partisan financial experts, to include the CBO, constantly paint a dramatically different picture as outlined in my recent blog post.

It’s no wonder that approximately 80% of the American public continues to mistrust their government and why the overall approval rating for our Congress sits at or about 17%.

Question: Could it be true that the U.S. debt will hit $20 Trillion in the next ten years, which means that the size of the federal debt would increase by nearly 250 percent over 10 years, from $7.5 trillion to a whopping $20 trillion?

Additionally, it was recently revealed by the CBO that the Health Care Bill would exceed $1 Trillion dollars, which is quite different from what we were constantly told by politicians, to include the White House, before it was signed into law.

My recent blog post reveals the disturbing answer to this question-You Decide:

http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/u-s-debt-to-hit-20-trillio...

I am looking forward to hearing from you regarding this disturbing issue.

Thank you for your continued public service to this state and our country.

Respectfully,

Jacobo L. Martinez
Captain-USMC-Retired”

Note: This is Senator Udall’s speedy response to my letter of May 23, 2010:

“May 25, 2010

Dear Mr. Martinez,

Thank you for contacting me regarding taxes and government spending. I appreciate hearing from you about these very important matters.

The economic crisis combined with fiscally irresponsible policies that took us from a budget surplus in 2000 to dramatic budget deficits by 2008 has created an untenable fiscal situation for our nation. As we continue efforts to jump start our economy, we must enact policies that put us on track to achieving better fiscal responsibility.

Throughout my years of public service, I have maintained a commitment to fiscal discipline. As a Representative and Senator, I have fought to establish a pay-as-you-go, or "pay-go" policy to combat unchecked federal spending. Finally, over strong objections, Congress reinstated pay-go rules for federal budgets. New Mexican families are hurting, and the federal government needs to make tough choices instead of passing the bill on to future generations. Reinstating pay-go rules is a good first step.

As you may know, President Barack Obama released an outline of his Fiscal Year 2011 budget proposal on February 1, 2010. While each president traditionally presents their budget priorities, it is Congress' responsibility to formulate the actual budget, using the president's proposal as one of many sources of recommendations. I believe President Obama's budget is a good start for New Mexico and the nation. The budget must work in a fiscally responsible manner to create jobs around the country and improve the lives of working families.

In addition to the normal budget process, Congress and the President also are considering other proposals to reign in the deficits. President Obama has called for a three year spending freeze on discretionary non-defense spending. Another proposal was an amendment offered by Senators Kent Conrad (ND) and Judd Gregg (NH) to establish a bipartisan budget commission to provide recommendations for addressing the growing budget deficit of the federal government. Both houses of Congress would be required to vote on the recommendations without any chance for amendment. The Conrad-Gregg Commission was offered as an amendment on January 21, 2010, to H.J.Res. 45, a resolution to increase the statutory limit on the public debt. Because of the supermajority requirements in the Senate, it did not receive the 60 votes needed to pass.

Although this proposal seems like a sound idea, I voted against it for several reasons. First, I believe it is Congress' responsibility to make the difficult taxing and spending decisions for our nation's budget. It is one of the reasons our constituents elect us to Congress, and passing that responsibility to an unelected commission is shirking that duty. Congress already has the mechanism in place to make these difficult decisions, but it has not shown the political will to do so. We can use a simple majority vote through the Reconciliation process to reduce spending or increase revenues - that is what Reconciliation was intended to do.

Finally, I am very concerned that such a commission might harm New Mexico. As intended, I would not be able to amend the recommendations on the Senate floor, and this could be problematic for our state, which is very dependent on the federal government. From our outstanding national labs and military bases, to other pressing infrastructure needs, all of these could be targets for deficit reduction. You may be interested to know, however, that when the Conrad-Gregg Commission was defeated, President Obama established his own independent budget commission. He has appointed several members, and they are all outstanding public servants. Although I have many of the same concerns regarding the Obama Commission, it is my understanding that any recommendations will be amendable under regular Senate procedures, so I will reserve judgment on this process until I learn how its recommendations affect New Mexico.

President Obama has also proposed changes to make the tax code fairer for the middle class. Under the president's plan, roughly 95 percent of American taxpayers-those earning less than about $250,000 per year-would receive a tax cut. To pay for this middle class tax relief without worsening the deficit, the president has recommended repealing the previous administration's tax cut for the wealthiest five percent of taxpayers. This would set their taxes at 10 percent less than they were for most of the Reagan Administration. The president's proposal helps to address the steady shrinking of the middle class, and it does so in a fiscally responsible way.

Please be assured that I am committed to fiscal responsibility and protecting middle class taxpayers from an unfair or unsustainable tax burden. For too long, our federal government has ignored the looming fiscal crises. We have seen a decade's worth of tax-cuts for the wealthy, and two wars - none of which have been paid for. Now, we are experiencing the worst recession since the great depression. As we address these issues in Congress, I will keep your thoughts in mind.

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts with me. Please feel free to contact me with your concerns regarding any federal issue by visiting my website at www.tomudall.senate.gov. For more information, you may also visit my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Senator-Tom-Udall/106433512869 and receive up to the minute updates through my Twitter page at http://twitter.com/senatortomudall.

Very truly yours,



Tom Udall

United States Senator”

Semper Fi!
Jake

[Merrill]

Great letter, but the usual canned response, nothing but rhetoric and lies. The only thing he's committed to is weakening our nation and turning us into a third world nation. Sounds remarkably similar to replies I get from my senators in Washington when I get anything. Pisses me off, I shouldn't have read read it. We have got to get these jackasses out of office.....