Senator David Perdue: Bullish On Economy, Bearish On National Debt

U.S. Senator David Perdue recently joined Intercontinental Exchange’s Inside the ICE House podcast to discuss economic growth, the national debt crisis, and being an outsider in Washington.

Highlights:

Formula For Success: “When you pull government back to a reasonable level, have a taxation process that allows us to be level with the rest of the world, and a banking system that rewards risk taking and yet protects us in terms of providing liquidity to our markets, it’s a formula for success. I’m still very bullish on this. This is the greatest economic turnaround in U.S. history.”

Offering Solutions: “Growing up in a military town helped me identify that we had a global security crisis at the same time we had a debt crisis. General Mattis said the biggest danger to our national security is our own debt, and that’s why I ran. It’s one thing to complain about what’s wrong in Washington, but you have to offer up solutions. Coming through the performance pyramid of business, that’s what we did.”

Manifestation Of Irresponsibility: “Our $22 trillion debt crisis is a manifestation of irresponsibility. This year, we are going to borrow about 25 percent of what we spend because of our obligations on the mandatory side. That means pretty much every dime that we spend on our military, our veterans, and all domestic discretionary programs is borrowed money. That is no way to run a business, let alone a country.”

Time To Face This Crisis: “My children are the first generation in the history of America that has a lower economic prospect than the prior generation. I don’t care what your political leanings are, that’s unacceptable. We have about $130 trillion of liabilities over the next 30 years. We have got plenty of assets to deal with this debt crisis, but we’ve got to stand up and face it.”

Term Limits: “I believe the number one problem in Washington is the development of the career politician. The drive to get reelected outweighs everything else, and that’s a real problem. I believe that if we had a faster turnover of politicians then you’d get more sense of urgency, a more honest train of thought, and less obstructionism when you change power in the White House and Congress. Sometimes in Washington the national interest gets seconded to the self-interest of getting reelected, and that’s why I believe in term limits.”

Focus On What’s Important: “My dad served in World War II and Korea. He did the GI Bill and worked his way through college. He was a schoolteacher and later became a principal, a coach, and then a superintendent. My mother was a fifth grade teacher, and she started the first gifted program in Georgia. They taught me to focus on what’s important. It is one reason why I got involved in literacy as an adult. I was chairman of the National Commission on Adult Literacy for about a decade. At Dollar General, I was so proud that even prior to my getting there, we had the largest philanthropy for literacy of any major U.S. corporation.”