GOP Address: Rep. Dave Camp on Growing the Economy and Cutting Spending - East Idaho News
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GOP Address: Rep. Dave Camp on Growing the Economy and Cutting Spending

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010413 RepDaveCampMichigan?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1357352666054US House of Representatives(WASHINGTON) — As the House returns for the 113th Congress, Rep. Dave Camp says its 2013 resolution is clear: to grow our economy, getting government spending under control and making Washington more accountable to Americans.

Camp, who represents the fourth district of Michigan and is chairman of the House Ways and  Means Committee, says in this week’s Republican address that the real reason we’re in a “fiscal mess” is because “Washington takes too much of your money and then wastes it … We have to make sure Washington is accountable for every tax dollar it spends.”

Noting (just as House Speaker John Boehner did in an address two weeks ago) that “the American people re-elected a Republican [House] majority,” Rep. Camp says the GOP intend to use it “to hold the president accountable for the ‘balanced’ approach he promised.”  According to Camp, that would mean spending cuts, simplifying the tax code and strengthening programs like Social Security and Medicare.

The congressman takes particular issue with the current IRS tax code, which he calls “a nightmare.”  Camps says without reform, the current tax code is “too complex, too costly and too unfair.”  Sixty percent of taxpayers have to hire a professional to do their taxes, according to Camp. “You shouldn’t need an army of lawyers and accountants to understand our tax code,” he says, suggesting lawmakers eliminate special interest loopholes so that everyone can play by the same rules.

“Your tax rate should be determined by what’s fair, not who you know in Washington,” he says in the address.

Now that Washington has averted the “fiscal cliff,” a new dilemma faces lawmakers, who must turn its attention to the debt ceiling. Now, Camp says, “we must identify responsible ways to tackle Washington’s wasteful spending.”  

Camp criticizes President Obama and Democrats in Congress, saying that during the fiscal cliff talks they didn’t seem to understand that the government has to live within its means.

“That position is irresponsible and fails to acknowledge what every family in America already knows — when you have no more money in your account and you credit cards are maxed out, then the spending must stop,” he says.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

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