USA Today
Presidents have traditionally understood that reform and results take leadership. Yet President Obama doesnt seem to care. He prefers to play the blame game - giving speeches and knocking down straw men - rather than do something about our skyrocketing debt. In short: he takes the easy way out.
WASHINGTON The following column authored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) appeared in
USA Today:
Debates over U.S. government debt are as old as America itself.
When the first Congress took office in 1789 our country was grappling with a mountain of financial obligations. But within five years writes historian John Steele Gordon we had the highest credit rating in Europe and a French diplomat marveled that U.S. bonds were safe and free from reverses.
Sadly our fiscal reputation is no longer so pristine. It will continue to decline unless we break the cycle of deficits that has made our gross national debt larger than the entire U.S. economy.
Our debt has increased by nearly $6 trillion since President Obama entered the White House and it is projected to increase by another $9.5 trillion over the next decade. Yet the president stubbornly refuses to show the leadership necessary to get our long-term finances under control.
President Obama always talks about a balanced approach to debt reduction but he hasnt done much to support a balanced approach despite having numerous opportunities. He could have adopted the blueprint offered by his own bipartisan fiscal commission. But he ignored it. Alternatively he could have embraced the strategy outlined by House Republicans. But he ignored that plan too.
The president doesnt seem to appreciate the urgency of the moment. He doesnt seem to appreciate that our country is headed for a real crisis.
Republicans have shown that we are willing to support a budget that reduces our long-term debt. But the only way America will make real progress on debt reduction is if President Obama follows suit. Unfortunately he seems allergic to genuine bipartisan compromises.
Until the Obama Administration virtually every landmark domestic-policy change in modern U.S. history was achieved with bipartisan support. For example both the 1935 Social Security Act and the 1964 Civil Rights Act were signed by a Democratic president and endorsed by a large majority of Senate Republicans. The 1996 Welfare Reform Act signed by President Clinton was backed by every single member of the GOP Senate caucus along with a majority of Senate Democrats.
Likewise during the Reagan years most Senate Democrats voted for the 1983 Social Security Amendments and a whopping 94 of Senate Democrats voted for the 1986 Tax Reform Act. Under President George W. Bush 84 of Senate Democrats voted for the No Child Left Behind Act.
In other words presidents have traditionally understood that reform and results take leadership.
Yet President Obama doesnt seem to care. He prefers to play the blame game -- giving speeches and knocking down straw men -- rather than do something about our skyrocketing debt. In short: he takes the easy way out.
Real debt reduction will require real presidential leadership -- the kind of leadership that President Clinton displayed in 1993 when he convinced 47 of Senate Democrats and 40 of House Democrats to defy the unions and support the North American Free Trade Agreement. (Since then U.S. trade with Canada has nearly tripled and U.S. trade with Mexico has increased almost sixfold.)
My hope is that President Obama will show the kind of leadership we have seen throughout our nations history. He has acknowledged that no amount of tax increases could sustain Medicare in its present form. He has also said that public officials who are concerned about preserving government assistance for the elderly and the needy have an obligation to reform our entitlement programs and ensure their long-term viability. Yet he has done little to act on his own words choosing instead to demagogue GOP reform efforts.
Thus Washington keeps spending money we dont have and saddling our children with more debt. Meanwhile our safety-net programs are spiraling toward a collapse that would leave the poor and the elderly even more vulnerable. Its time for President Obama to move beyond the partisan rhetoric drop the gimmicks and do whats right for our country.
Senator Cornyn serves on the Finance and Judiciary Committees. He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committees Immigration Refugees and Border Security subcommittee. He served previously as Texas Attorney General Texas Supreme Court Justice and Bexar County District Judge.
