Greece should serve as a wake-up call

Both parties are to blame for the reckless spending over the past decade that has placed us on this shortlist of debt-riddled nations.

And it’s only going to get worse in the short term. The president’s new budget proposal, released this month, projects a deficit for this year of $1.33 trillion — marking four consecutive years of trillion-dollar-plus deficits. It also includes trillions of dollars in new government spending over the next decade.

For too long, Republicans and Democrats in Washington have turned a blind eye to our country's financial mess. Doing nothing and repeating the mistakes of the past defies common sense if we’re ever to reduce the deficit, balance the budget and get Americans back to work.

For this reason, I've introduced my own pro-growth plan to get America working again. It contains some of the following provisions:

· Broadly restructure our corporate tax system in order to encourage businesses to keep their jobs in America, and bring new facilities and jobs here by making U.S. companies more globally competitive.
· Abolish burdensome government regulations on employers that drive costs up while keeping job growth down. We don’t need to make it any harder than it already is for a business to grow and expand.
· Adopt a constitutional amendment requiring the federal government to balance its budget. It’s the first bill I introduced as a member of Congress.
· Pass far-reaching legal reform that removes frivolous lawsuits from our court system.

As a successful businessman who created thousands of jobs before coming to Congress, I know what it takes to create new opportunity, manage payrolls and exercise the fiscal discipline that keeps a business moving forward.

What is essential is that both parties and the president work together and make the tough choices necessary to tackle America’s debt crisis and grow the economy.

If we want to avoid the fate of Greece, we need to act today.


Buchanan is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.