Orlando Sentinel

Op-Ed: Sen. Rick Scott

September 23, 2021

In 2019, Congress voted to suspend the debt limit, letting the federal government rack up unlimited debt for two years. Now, the debt limit suspension has expired and congressional Democrats are pitching this as a decision point with only two options: vote to suspend the debt limit again or increase it. They want us to write the government a blank check to spend more money that we don’t have.

Republicans won’t stand for it. As spending bills by Democratic leadership rage out of control, we won’t vote to bail them out and cut them more blank checks to bury us in debt, increase America’s interest expense and fuel an already raging inflation crisis hurting families across Florida. It’s time for Democrats to own the debt crisis they created.

That’s why I recently joined 45 of my Senate Republican colleagues in a letter to the American people with a simple message: because Democrats are responsible for the massive spending and debt growth, they alone need to take responsibility for raising the debt limit.

Reckless spending has consequences, like rising inflation and growing government interest expenses. Recently, my office heard from a family in Kissimmee who is feeling the impacts of inflation firsthand. They are having a harder time putting food on the table and balancing the ability to keep their vehicle. That’s the effect of this irresponsible and dangerous path the Democrats are on.

Republicans won’t support it. We won’t vote to raise the debt limit and excuse massive spending that’s hurting Florida families.

Thanks to decades of reckless spending in Washington, America’s credit card is maxed out. The federal debt is nearly $30 trillion. That’s more than $233,000 of debt for every American family. We must get our house in order, but that’s not the attitude of Democrats in Washington.

Democrats are pushing a $5.5 trillion tax and spending spree that explodes our federal debt to $45 trillion by 2031. We can’t let it happen. It’s time for accountability that serves Florida families and taxpayers.

America’s debt is similar to the debt that Florida families deal with every day. Like any borrower, the government pays interest on its debt. When you rack up nearly $30 trillion in debt that means hundreds of billions of dollars in interest paid for by taxpayers. Like a family, the government must make choices with its money. Every dollar spent on one thing doesn’t get spent on something else. That presents a big problem when it comes to federal interest payments – and it’s something the Democrats never want to talk about.

With interest rates at historic lows, the U.S. government is already spending nearly $345 billion annually on interest. Instead of funding infrastructure, defense or the environment, nearly $345 billion is just paying interest which provides zero return to American families. As the debt grows, this will only get worse.

How can Congress justify that? No family or business would keep spending more when you can’t afford the bills you already have. In the real world, it’s not the number of checks you have in your checkbook, it’s how much money you have left in the bank. But, for Congressional Democrats, it’s about spending until the checks are gone, ignoring the overdraft warnings, and then ordering more.

This gross fiscal mismanagement has consequences. When I was governor, Florida’s fiscal responsibility allowed our state to maintain AAA ratings from Fitch, Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s. But the U.S. earns a lower AA+ mark from S&P. Just like it does for a family, a lower credit rating makes borrowing more expensive for governments, driving interest expense even higher. That’s why my administration focused on paying down the debt and driving the economy through high-impact tax cuts that helped Florida businesses create jobs and families keep more of their hard-earned money.

It’s time to show President Biden and the liberals that their debt crisis has dangerous consequences that are wasting the hard-earned tax dollars of Florida families.

I’ll keep fighting every day to put our nation on a successful path and ensure our future generations have every opportunity to live the American dream.

Rick Scott, a Republican, represents Florida in the U.S. Senate. He is the former governor of Florida.

Read more: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/guest-commentary/os-op-rick-scott-republicans-wont-raise-debt-limit-20210923-5gx5npwfifditf2pflqbjw7rsy-story.html