I was not surprised when The New York Times reported today that President Obama may go back on his pledge not to raise taxes on the middle class.  And neither are the American people who understand that you can’t continue to spend more than you make.

As The Wall Street Journal mentioned, “Remarkably, President Obama will add more red ink in his first two years than President George W. Bush—berated by conservatives for his failure to control domestic spending and by liberals for the explosion of military spending in Iraq and Afghanistan—did in eight. In his first 15 months, Mr. Obama will raise the debt burden—the ratio of the national debt to GDP—by more than Reagan did in eight years… Such vast debt implies immense future tax increases. Balancing the 2015 budget would require a 43% increase in everyone's income taxes that year. It's hard to imagine a worse detriment to economic growth.”

President Obama was correct when he said, “The real problem has to do with the fact that there is a just a mismatch between the amount of money coming in and the amount of money going out.”  However, his approach to narrowing the deficit could not be more wrong.

Rather than increasing taxes, the federal government must follow the lead of the American families and cut back on all the spending. 

We cannot continue down the path of borrowing and spending. To make balanced budgets the rule and not the exception, I have introduced a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.  In Congress, we must now make tough decisions, reign in runaway deficits, and reduce our debt.  The American people are demanding this and we must not let them down.