PEORIA, Ill. — The U.S. federal deficit continues to grow.
But, it’s something that President Donald Trump didn’t talk about during his recent State of the Union address.
Illinois 18th District Congressman Darin LaHood insists something has to be done.
“We’re $22 trillion in debt. And, that’s due to go up this year. For me, I’ve voted against every single spending bill over the last four years that adds to the deficit. We can’t keep maxing out the credit card,” LaHood said.
LaHood said there are plenty of issues he agrees with the president on, but the nation’s debt isn’t one of them.
“Have we rebuilt our military? Absolutely. But, it costs money. And, we’ve gone into debt in doing that. It needed to be done. But, you’ve got to balance that out,” LaHood said.
LaHood told WMBD’s Greg and Dan, 70% of the country’s federal budget is spent on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
“With an aging population, it’s more and more of that money. And, that pie continues to shrink for non-discretionary spending. 10,000 people retire every month. And, we’re on the hook for that,” LaHood said.
LaHood said in order to solve the deficit problem, there has to be a true bipartisan conversation about spending.
