The economy is growing, health care inflation has slowed and the federal deficit has dropped in recent years. Yet the federal budget remains on an unsustainable path — and two men who represented New Hampshire in Congress in the 1990s are urging the state’s residents to insist that presidential hopefuls explain what they will do about it.
“As New Hampshire residents know all too well, presidential candidates come bearing gifts, in the form of campaign promises. Yet politicians often neglect to explain how they plan to pay for their proposals,” said William Zeliff, a Republican, and Richard Swett, a Democrat, in a guest column Monday in the New Hampshire Union Leader.
Simply adding trillions of dollars to the already-high federal debt is not a responsible option.
“That is why the 2016 candidates should explain how any new promises to increase spending or cut taxes will translate into a real budget — the first budget of the new administration,” Swett and Zeliff write.
They explain that Fix the Debt and The Concord Coalition have launched “First Budget,” a nonpartisan initiative to help ensure that the nation’s fiscal challenges are a high priority for the candidates, starting with the nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.
External links:
First Budget Website
