There is a nonpartisan group called the Congressional Budget Office, CBO for short. They shared some unsettling news with a group of Republicans in Congress on Wednesday, and the message is this; we’re in deep financial trouble. 

Our national debt is sitting at a staggering $31.4 trillion. CBO Director Phillip Swagel was invited to speak to the Republican Study Committee, and here’s what Fox News reported was part of his message. 

“The CBO made it clear that the level of growth necessary to balance the budget without cutting spending is impossible.”

More specifically, Swagel told the collected group, “We cannot grow ourselves out of this.”

So, it is time for action. There have to be fiscal cutbacks made to prevent a financial catastrophe. The realities are that we are facing a bleak future without changes. Republicans have been calling for spending cuts to offset the increase in the U.S. debt limit, but they aren’t having much luck.  Republican leaders accused Democrats of refusing to negotiate on spending cuts.  

Ben Cline leads the Republican Study Committee (how would you like to have that job with the economic problems we have?), and he says every elected official in DC needs to get their act together on this mess. 

“We need everyone, not just fiscal conservatives, to pay attention to the debt crisis and come to terms with reality. There are some really hard conversations that need to be had, both internally in the GOP and with our colleagues across the aisle.”

 Social Security could be a victim — it could be insolvent by 2032. Plus, with economic growth forecast to be far weaker this year, the only option is for our leaders to spend less money. 

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