In my view as a candidate for a seat in it, the U.S. House of Representatives has one main job. That job is to control the finances of the country. The “power of the purse” is vested in Congress both by the U.S. Constitution’s appropriations clause and the taxing and spending clause.
And it is a big purse with a hole in it, as our country receives around $5 trillion in annual revenue right now and spends closer to $7 trillion. (Don’t get me started on the horrific deficit, which will be one of my top priorities in Washington, D.C.)
There are some things that only the federal government can do, and they need to be done. Congress must have the courage to defend American rights and interests. To allow enough funding for those priorities without needing to borrow more money or raise taxes, we must identify the things that can be done by states, counties, cities, school districts, private enterprises, individuals, or charities, along with those things which need not be done at all. Those are the items that our federal government must have the courage to defund.
Choosing Carefully
After the Minneapolis Mistake of “defunding the police” in 2020 and the Federal Folly in funding trillions of dollars in inflation-causing “stimulus bills” starting that same year, politicians should have learned their lessons about the importance of the defund/defend decisions. But they have not. Congress, for example, continues to defund Social Security, our military, our allies, and our borders.
Like my message to the Minneapolis City Council to defend – not defund – law enforcement, my message to the U.S. Congress is the same. Defend the right things. Defund the right things.
Defend America’s military. This is job one, so don’t defund our armed forces.
Defend first America’s national security.
Defend America’s economy by reducing the $34 trillion national debt.
Defend Social Security, rather than defund it as you are doing now.
Defend our national allies. Don’t defund them in their time of peril at the hands of Russia, Hamas, China, Iran, and North Korea.
Defend parental choice in the education of children.
Defend freedom, be it free speech, freedom of religion, or free enterprise.
Defend the Constitution of the United States of America.
Yes, America, under the principle of limited government we absolutely must fund and defend the things that need to be protected when only the federal government of the United States can do it.
So, you may be thinking, “Quentin, that’s going to cost a lot of money. What would you defund?”
I would start by voting to defund handout programs and tax breaks except to support truly needy Americans. In that regard, let’s defund President Biden’s student loan payoff programs, which are designed to buy votes using taxpayer money.
Defund the federal agencies that interfere with our schools. Defund overregulation of small business and imposition on individual liberties. Defund the growth and expansion of government.
Defund government waste.
Wisdom to Know the Difference
I fully realize that it may be easier for one to say these things than for one member of Congress to do all of them. This in part is why I will rely on my own version of the “serenity prayer.” In Congress, my prayer will be as follows:
“Dear God, please grant me the serenity to accept the things the federal government cannot change, courage to defend the things only we can defend, courage to defund the things that must be defunded, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Quentin R. Wittrock
Responsible. Respected. Rational.
Well said.
Quentin is an outstanding candidate!! May wisdom be with the voters he will represent!!!
You are right on the mark, Quentin!
I agree 100%!