John Boehner, August 4, 2006

It goes without saying, but every dollar the federal government spends eventually comes out of your pocket. It’s more than the taxes you pay directly -- the goods you buy, the services you use, and the food you eat all cost you more because of taxes levied by Uncle Sam somewhere along the way. Americans are paying for federal spending at every waking moment -- the least we should expect is that our hard-earned dollars are spent wisely.

Unfortunately, we know that all too often that isn’t the case. But there is change afoot in our nation’s capital. In a city that for too long has been overrun by big spenders, we’re slowly implementing substantive reforms that will make a real impact on how Congress does business.

When my colleagues elected me to serve as House Majority Leader, I promised to help enact budget and earmarking reforms that hold the line on spending and root out worthless pork projects. I promised to help shine a light on waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal budget. And I promised to renew our commitment to fiscal discipline. I’m pleased to report that while we have a long way to go, we’re making progress on all fronts.

In the spring, we began by passing a fiscally-responsible budget aimed at holding the line on spending and providing a "rainy day" fund for disaster response. To help eliminate worthless pork, we approved the Legislative Line Item Veto Act and crafted comprehensive earmark reforms. These reforms will bring more sunshine and more accountability to the budget process, and will help Congress determine worthy projects from worthless pork.

It’s important to note that the House will move to implement its comprehensive earmark reforms unilaterally if we can’t come to an agreement with the Senate by September. There are a number of important appropriations bills that will be voted on this fall, and we want our new earmark rules to apply to those bills before they ever get to the President’s desk.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant -- the more we shine on federal spending, the more progress we’ll make in rooting out waste. To that end, we approved legislation that creates a searchable website where you’ll be able to find out where federal grant money is spent.

On my website (johnboehner.house.gov) you’ll note that I released a 61-page report on wasteful spending which highlights our oversight efforts as we work to eliminate needless programs. In fact, this year alone we have eliminated 95 wasteful federal programs for a savings of nearly $4 billion. Last year we successfully terminated 53 programs for a savings of $3.5 billion.

In another victory for fiscal discipline, the House rejected $14 billion in unnecessary and non-emergency spending added by the Senate to an emergency spending bill. And while House Democrats have proposed $45.2 billion in new spending, House Republicans have rejected all of it.

While we’re making progress on the budget there’s no question we have to do more. The cost of entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare continues to skyrocket. Unless we get serious about reform, these programs will overwhelm the federal budget as Baby Boomers begin retiring. I truly believe that if we act soon, and continue to restrain spending across the board and keep taxes low, we can balance the federal budget in a few short years. It won’t be easy, but it’s possible.

Every dollar Washington spends comes from you. I will continue to work to help ensure your tax dollars are spent wisely.

Congressman John Boehner is the House Majority Leader. Boehner, a Republican, represents Ohio's Eighth Congressional District, which includes Miami, Butler, Preble, Darke, and Mercer Counties.