Congressman Andy Harris launched his first “Ask Andy” video segment from his government website Sunday, which focused on the looming “fiscal cliff.”
“America’s debt and fiscal cliff exist not because our tax rates are too low,” Harris said. “But because Washington has a spending problem. Our hardworking Maryland families would be better served by a solution that creates free markets and a limited efficient government.”
In the two-minute video, Harris (R-MD1) stands firm in his opposition to tax increases, which he said would result in the loss of 2,000 jobs on the Eastern Shore.
He makes no mention of the specific proposal by President Barack Obama to return to the Clinton tax rates of 39.6 percent for the top two-percent–while leaving the Bush tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans untouched.
The Spy tried several times to get comment from Harris on where he would compromise, but calls were not returned.
Sam Owings says
It is comforting to know that our Congressman has a realistic handle on how to solve this county’s financial problems, it is shameful to think about other leaders who insist that increased taxes and spending will solve our dept crisis.
Bill Parks says
The United States is in big trouble because our lawmakers do not follow our nation’s Constitution, nor do they understand the pernicious effects of nation’s privatized fractional reserve currency.
Congressman Andy Harris is dead wrong when he clams: “America’s debt and fiscal cliff exist not because our tax rates are too low, but because Washington has a spending problem. Our hardworking Maryland families would be better served by a solution that creates free markets and a limited efficient government.”
In fact, America has a debt because he and his colleagues in Congress choose to borrow our own money from a private banking enterprise, the Federal Reserve System, when they can simply issue all the money we need without creating any debt.
The constitution is very clear: Congress has the enumerated power to “…coin money and regulate the value thereof …” It is my belief, the opinion of the lawyer at the Heritage Foundation and the ruling of the United State’ Supreme Court the power and authority to issue the nation’s money, in whatever form and amount it wishes, are inherent in the sovereignty of the United States. Harris’s power to issue an interest-bearing bond is the same power he has to issue a debt-free dollar bill. This is not new: the government has issued currency in the past, starting in 1862 and continuing until 1967.
His choosing fractional reserve currency is a disaster for the economy creating financial pain for great majority of our citizens. With the exception of coins, every dollar in the economy is created by the banking system, its originating bank credit and advancing it into the economy as the principal of a loan. The banking system creates the principal of loans, but not the interest required to service the loans. So the interest must also be borrowed, compounding the debt in an ever-growing spiral, doubling it every twenty years just to maintain a circulating currency.
The total debt-based currency in the economy is presently $58.9 trillion with annual interest payment of $3.93 trillion, according to the U.S. debt Clock org. In a decade the interest will consume $39.3 trillion and in two decades $78.6 trillion will be needed just for the interest.
So if Congress wishes to continue using Federal Reserve currency, it must increase the nations’ total debt by and additional $59.9 trillion in the next twenty years, or the economy will not have sufficient currency to function.
Borrowing creates new money, while repaying loans destroys it. When banks stop lending, this dynamic balance is disrupted as people continue repaying their loans, draining circulating currency from the economy. We saw these effects in 2008 and 2009, and we continue to suffer from a currency deficiency in the economy, as we destroy money faster than the lending processes create it. This is evident: if the government stops borrowing huge amounts of money the banking system will quickly fail.
Lainey Harrison says
Well, I dont know about that Andy. When I took accounting classes we were taught that there are two sides to the equation and I think both parts need adjusting. How about compromising and take some spending cuts with some tax hikes? Oh, I forgot, Andy thinks Compromise is a dirty word.