The nation's spending is spiraling out of control and the debt ceiling limit should not have been raised, particularly when Democrats are trying to pass a "socialist welfare program" that will add $5.5 trillion more to the problem, Rep. Greg Steube said on Newsmax.
"This is my second term," the Florida Republican said Wednesday on ''National Report.'' "When I got elected, the deficit was $21 trillion. It's almost $30 trillion as we sit here today. Just in the last 18 months, our Congress has spent $11 trillion, and just to put that into perspective, we only take in $3.5 trillion a year."
The House on Tuesday night approved legislation that will allow the current national debt limit to rise to about $28.8 trillion, or by $480 billion. The current national debt is at $28.4 trillion. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill, particularly after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's warnings of severe economic problems by Oct. 18.
"Washington has a spending problem," Steube said. "Why in the world will we raise the debt ceiling to pay for a socialist welfare program? We should be reining in the spending and cutting spending in Washington, not increasing it."
Steube also criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi D-Calif., after her comments to the media that she thinks they could do a "better job of selling" the $3.5 trillion spending bill to the public.
"I mean, for the most part, the left-wing mainstream media is trying to cover for the Democrats," Steube said. "But this bill is so bad that even Democrats are starting to push back. ... People are starting to push back once they're starting to find out what's actually in this $3.5 trillion spending bill."
He also said he doesn't know what difference it makes to push back the debt ceiling to December, as Democrats have been talking about the infrastructure plan since February, and the measure is still being blocked by progressives who won't vote for it unless it includes the $3.5 trillion spending bill.
"If they would have just passed the infrastructure plan that passed the Senate. I believe that would have passed the House," Steube said. "I wouldn't have supported it, but it would have had enough votes to pass the House."
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