Lawton Constitution: Congress Must Solve Federal Budget Crisis

The Oklahoma Republican was speaking to the editorial board of The Lawton Constitution, following on the heels of a three-hour town hall he led at Great Plains Technology Center, one of a series of meetings he has held with constituents during the summer recess.

Cole, who took several budget-related questions from constituents at the Lawton meeting, said he expects Congress to pass the continuing resolution that will allow the federal government to continue operating when the federal fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

But he said the next budget crisis could hit Jan. 1 when the next round of sequestration begins, and he predicted a larger deal is needed to avoid the associated budget cuts. While Republicans are committed to providing the funding to fully fund federal operations, Cole said President Obama is using threatened military cuts to try to increase domestic spending, something that can't be done without raising taxes. Obama won't get Republicans to raise taxes, he said, noting that without a compromise including what he said will have to be a look at entitlement spending additional cuts are coming for important categories, including the military.

Cole said that 70 percent of the federal budget is associated with only five areas: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and the national debt.

"They are not cut," Cole said, noting that leaves the remaining 30 percent of government to cope with cuts mandated under sequestration.

He said changes must be implemented in some domestic spending, including Social Security. But, as he also noted at Thursday's town hall meeting, Cole said that fix will be a variation of what the nation's leaders did in 1983 when they created the tiered system that increases the age at which younger workers will qualify for Social Security while increasing the amount of taxes those workers pay into the system.

Cole said the way to resolve the problem is to ensure Congress "makes logical decisions," something "this president is not willing to do."

Cole offers bill

Cole also said he has a bill that would create a commission patterned after the Reagan-era commission that created the tiered system in 1983. He said his commission would include 13 members, with nine of those 13 having to agree on the recommendations they would present to Congress.

Waiting is not an option, Cole said, saying experts estimate the Social Security disability program (which provides funding to those on long-term or permanent disability) will go broke next year.

"Do you really want that to happen?" he asked, adding that proposals to simply roll those people over into the regular Social Security system are not feasible.

"The next president will have to deal with it," he said, explaining that if that doesn't happen, that president will be running for re-election while the federal deficit begins to rise again.

Cole also said that the fact that there is no entitlement reform on the table illustrates a "real absence of leadership in the White House."