Jim DeMint, one of the Senate's strongest conservative voices, was spot-on Wednesday on the Laura Ingraham Show. Last year, Senator DeMint correctly predicted that Obamacare would be Barack Obama's Waterloo. Republicans were successful in the last election because conservative leaders like DeMint took a stand for the free market and limited government when Obamacare came to vote. Asked Wednesday whether the debt ceiling could be conservatives' Waterloo, DeMint responded: "If it is, then let it be."
Unfortunately, Democrats have been working hard to frighten voters into believing the spending cuts our country must make are unnecessary and un-American That's what Obama tried to tell us in his speech this week. Nothing could be further from the truth. Unless we take actions to put our fiscal house in order, our ability as a nation to address any situation will be significantly limited.
Obama simultaneously called for a job-killing tax hike. His logic is deeply flawed. A tax hike would shrink the economy and sink us deeper into debt. I believe voters are smart enough to see through Obama's campaign trail rhetoric. But if a well-written speech and teleprompter win the day, then conservatives must still be willing to do what's right, even if that means putting political careers on the line.
We cannot go along with liberals' push to raise the debt, continue spending without restraint, and raise taxes on small businesses. Like Senator DeMint, I would not vote to raise the debt ceiling unless we first pass substantial structural changes, including a Balanced Budget Amendment, to get our country back on the right track.
