Comer speaks against excessive government spending

James Comer represents Kentcky’s first congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. He spoke during the breakfast about the necessity of decreasing government spending in Washington D.C., and how this affects economic development.

Comer began by complimenting Marshall County’s interest in government, saying he has had more interns from Marshall County than any of the other 34 counties within his district. He introduced his summer interns from Marshall County, Keeley Butler, a 2019 graduate of MCHS, and Luke Wyatt, a 2020 graduate from MCHS.

“There is division in America right now,” said Comer. “It is a tough environment in Washington. I am hopeful that someday it will be less divisive, but I do not see anything changing, especially over the next 60 days.”

The next 60 days, specifically, due to the upcoming midterm elections. These elections produce a unique set of challenges for members of congress due to the large amount of turnover. This year, in particular, has a record number of retirements within the HOR, presenting an opportunity for fresh faces to find themselves in congress, along with an opportunity for the Republican party to flip the house.

If the house flips, Comer will become chairman of the house oversight committee, which will be renamed the oversight and investigations committee, the main investigative body that looks into issues within the government. As chairman of that committee, he wants to curb excessive government spending and help eliminate or navigate unnecessary rules and regulations for private sector business owners.

Comer said he has noticed an issue, among business owners, in their ability to navigate the ever-changing federal bureaucracy, saying this has become a full-time job due to constantly changing rules and regulations. “There are a lot of areas in the government where I think we are holding the private sector back, we are holding job creators back, we are holding people back from taking risks and investing capital. I want to see those obstacles removed,” said Comer.

For example, the energy industry. “I believe we can be energy-independent in America,” he said. There have been several bills passed within the last few years prohibiting the utilization of energy potential in America, due to the increasing number of ‘hoops’ businesses are meant to jump through. Comer’s goal is to ‘unleash American capitalism,’ and he wants to do that by helping the private sector navigate bureaucracy and eliminating unnecessary rules and regulations among businesses.

Comer said the economic issues consumers are dealing with now are directly related to the government’s excessive spending. There are consequences to this excessive spending that are now falling on the American people, including inflation, raised interest rates, and an unstable real estate market. The real estate market is grinding to a halt because of increased interest rates. A 20-year mortgage will cost homeowners $300 more a month than it did just nine months ago, cited Comer. That is a substantial amount of money, equaling $72,000 at the end of a 20-year period.

The raised interest rates associated with the real-estate market directly correlate with the current rates of inflation. Printing more money, which devalues the dollar and increases inflation, has led to increased interest rates. And the reason behind increased interest rates all comes back to excessive government spending surrounding new legislation. Every legislation has some type of subsidy, said Comer, citing stimulus checks, Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, and environmental sustainability bills as prime examples of bills being passed that ultimately cost taxpayers more.

Comer noted the economy is strong, and has been for quite a while. The plan for the government, he said, is to increase government spending when the economy is sluggish. But since the spending has been excessive and the economy strong, it now has the potential to slow. This is affecting people on fixed incomes, even with increased wages and a 6% increase to this year’s social security check, inflation is ‘eating up’ these checks and leaving people struggling financially. According to Comer, the only way to combat this is increasing interest rates. He says the government is spending too much money trying to bolster the economy and the federal reserve is raising interest rates to try to cool it. “I do not know which way the economy is gonna go, but I know we have to get spending under control for the federal reserve, regardless of who the president is, regardless of which party is in control in Washington, it is going to continue to jack up those interest rates,” said Comer.

Unsatisfied with the way the government is spending money, Comer wants to straight-line the direction in which money is being spent and what it is being spent on. “I believe the government is getting into areas that the government does not have any business getting into,” said Comer, regarding the legislature surrounding private sector businesses.

For example, $8 billion has recently been allotted to the USPS to convert all their cars to electric ones. Comer does not believe this was a practical use of funds due to the absence of electric hookups in rural areas, among other things. There is a demand for electric vehicles among the private sector, the next generation of consumers, says Comer, but legislation should not be created to require it. On the other hand, Comer said the government should be focusing on social security and medicare, which are not currently in the best financial shape, along with infrastructure. Unnecessary spending is a huge appropriation on the federal government that should be protected, and should be stopped.