Guest Blogger: Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX) on Tax Day

Congressman Pete Olson / April 15, 2010

April 15th is Tax Day, the day that our tax returns are due to the Internal Revenue Service. As we perform this annual ritual it is important to take a look at how much we are paying to the government and what it is being spent on.

Our nation has been struggling to recover from a severe recession and the solution proposed by liberal Democrats is to increase federal spending to staggering levels and have the government take over the private sector. It’s amazing how little regard the Administration and its supporters in Congress have for the power of the American marketplace to create fulfilling, long lasting jobs for our citizens. The federal government should provide an environment of economic growth through limited, common sense regulations and a reasonable tax structure. Instead, we face a crushing volume of burdensome regulations and a tax structure that discourages growth and prosperity.

In less than two years, the Obama Administration has increased non-defense discretionary spending by 84 percent! The Congressional Budget Office predicts that under the President’s spending plans, the deficits over the next ten years will total $9.8 trillion. Furthermore, the President’s FY2011 budget raises taxes by $3 trillion and increases federal spending by $1.6 trillion over the next ten years. If enacted, this budget would increase the 2010 deficit to more than $1.5 trillion, and leave a deficit of more than $1 trillion even after an assumed return to peace and prosperity. Overall, the President’s budget will double our national debt over the next decade. (more…)