It is bad enough that Washington politicians – led by Senator Harry Reid – have spent trillions of dollars more than the federal government has actually collected by way of tax revenues, thus saddling today’s workers with debt they have no way of repaying. But far worse, and even immoral, is that our own government is severely affecting the quality of life, job opportunities and future debt payments of our kids and grandkids – many of whom have yet to enter the workforce.

Future generations of Nevadans – and all Americans – will enter a workforce with fewer opportunities, higher taxes and higher interest rates because of the careless spending habits of Senator Reid and his friends in Washington. What kind of leadership … what kind of representation … what kind of stewardship of our tax dollars allows this to occur?

Total outstanding debt in America has increased by $1.1 trillion in just the first three quarters of 2009 – which equates to about $10,000 of additional debt, per household. That’s more debt in just 9 months than the previous three years combined. This level of spending – some have argued – was to save us from the recession. In truth, it has made the problem worse, and it has prolonged it. Nevada’s unemployment has increased more than 40 percent since Harry Reid passed his federal “stimulus” bill.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that our federal government will run a deficit of at least $1.4 trillion for fiscal year 2009. This means that 43 cents of every dollar spent by Washington politicians was borrowed. It also means that our federal government spent 75 percent more money than it earned.

This level of spending would be the same as an average family earning a combined $62,000 of annual income and deciding to spend nearly $109,000 in that same year. If a family cannot sustain this level of spending, and a small business cannot sustain this level of spending, why do we allow our federal government to do it — with the very tax dollars we earned through our labor and sent to Washington? It’s unconscionable, outrageous … and it must stop.

To stop this madness, I propose that the federal government mandate not only an immediate spending freeze, but that we ask all federal departments and agencies to cut 5 percent of their spending, except those tasked with the protection of our national and homeland security (even though I am convinced that significant savings can be found there, too). Senator Reid and his Washington allies have so drastically increased federal spending in this country that we cannot simply stop the level of spending, we need to reduce spending to get our nation back on a more stable, economic footing.

If we do nothing, within the next decade alone, the federal government will be spending more just on the interest on our debt than we do on discretionary defense spending. In fact, by 2018, we will be spending more on interest than we do on ALL non-defense discretionary spending combined, including education, energy, transportation, housing and environmental protection.

We must not allow Senator Reid to continue spending away our future prosperity. This is not a record to be proud of … in fact, it is the height of irresponsibility. Republicans, Democrats, Independents – and those who are years away from even becoming eligible voters – deserve better. As your senator, I will stop this careless spending and prevent decades of job-killing tax hikes and unaffordable interest rates.