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  Home Page » Opinion » Letters To The Editor » It Is Congress Job To Rein In Spending

It is Congress' job to rein in spending

by Sharon Camarca, Durango
Letter to the editor

I find it interesting Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., is so concerned about the nation's nearly $12 trillion debt - that's $38,000 per American and counting - that he and Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., are encouraging the Senate Majority Leader to create an independent panel to rein in Washington's spending.

Here is a quote from his Web site, http://markudall.

senate.gov: "There's no question we need to rein in our federal spending and bring some common-sense fiscal discipline to Washington. But if we keep trying to do this through the political process, it will never get done. I think it's time to put the tough decisions in the hands of a nonpartisan, nonpolitical panel." I ask, isn't that the job of our elected senators and representatives?

It is they and they alone who spend taxpayer dollars, and they shouldn't try to pass the buck by inventing an oversight committee to make the "tough decisions." They already have the Congressional Budget Office for feedback regarding their spending follies; now they want to add another layer to a bloated bureaucracy.

I looked up Udall's voting record beginning with his Web site and found that he voted "nay" on (and "yea" to table) so many amendments to strike earmarks and against saving taxpayer dollars in the first session of 2009 that it's no wonder he wants to pass the buck onto a "panel to fight the national debt," as then he won't have to take responsibility for his voting record.

We need to hold our elected officials accountable, and we do that with our vote.

Here in America, they are not a privileged class that deserves to go to Washington year after countless year.

Through our vote, an intelligent electorate can implement term limits on all politicians.

Sharon Camarca, Durango