U.S. needs balanced budget, not Obama's spending list

The president’s proposal is not a budget; it’s a reckless spending list, paid for on the backs of hard-working Montanans.

First the numbers: The president’s proposal would increase taxes by $2.1 trillion, add $2.4 trillion in new government spending, add $8.5 trillion to the almost $18 trillion national debt, and neither addresses how to curb Washington’s appetite for spending nor balances the budget.

I support a balanced budget amendment. Montana is constitutionally obligated to balance our budget. Washington should do the same — period.

The president’s plan calls for drastic increases in government spending and a litany of new government programs. Rather than add new programs, Washington needs to prioritize and focus on fixing the broken programs we already have, starting with the Veterans Administration and Obamacare. I’ve already introduced legislation to improve community care for veterans and co-sponsored legislation to repeal Obamacare and replace it with patient-centered reforms.

The current administration has already increased taxes by $1.7 trillion. Yet the latest plan calls for even more taxes at a time when wages are flat and the cost of raising a family and sending the kids to college keeps increasing. Simply put, Montana’s working families cannot afford the Obama budget.

For instance, the president’s plan would increase the “death tax” to 60 percent. This would decimate the dream of thousands of Montanans to pass their business, ranch or farm down to their kids. Taxing the farmers and ranchers of tomorrow is no way to pay for the wasteful spending of today.

The president’s proposal also calls for a multi-billion-dollar community college program that does nothing to actually address the problem of rising tuition costs. Washington has a way of throwing money at a situation with no solutions behind it. Here’s one solution: Let’s start by getting the federal government out of the loan shark business.

Our college grads are going bankrupt because they can’t find good jobs and are unable to repay their student loans. Meanwhile, the federal government is making a $127 billion profit off of student loans. Wouldn’t that money be better spent reducing student loan debt?

I also support abolishing excess regulations that cause students of the skilled trades to shoulder more debt than their cohorts at other colleges. Because regulations punish some schools for not offering certain degrees, students at these schools — often trade schools for welding, HVAC and similar professions — are not given access to grants and loans that traditional students receive.

I believe students in skilled trades deserve the same access to loan and grant opportunities that traditional two- and four-year students have. That’s good for students, good for small businesses, and good for Montana.

There are a number of other things the federal government can do to help boost the middle class economy while still being fiscally conservative. Let’s start by improving the way we manage our federal lands in order to allow sustainable timber harvesting.

Developing our natural resources like clean coal, natural gas and oil will create jobs, widen the tax base and spur economic activity. The federal government also needs to commit to long-term infrastructure projects like building the Keystone XL pipeline and upgrading existing pipelines, updating our telecommunications and broadband technology, and developing a five-year highway bill.

The federal government is an anchor on Montana’s economy, resisting critical infrastructure and investment opportunities, burdening small businesses with taxes, paperwork and red tape, and costing families their hard-earned paychecks. But we can make the American economy great again by doing what we do best: Innovating and thinking big.

Now is the time for Congress to focus on creating a real equal opportunity economy with fewer regulations, lower taxes, more opportunity, and more good-paying jobs that allow families to save for education, save for retirement and leave a better future for their children.

Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish, is the lone U.S. representative for Montana.