WASHINGTON – Leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has, as most observers acknowledge, changed the terms of debate for GOP voters through his calls for an end to “political correctness” and building a wall along the border with Mexico.
Today, Joseph Farah, editor and founder of WND, calls on Trump to shake up the Washington establishment again by promising to veto any effort to raise the debt limit as president – a move the Internet pioneer says would not only rein in borrowing and spending but bring America closer to its promise of constitutionally limited government.
“This would be a political earthquake and rally even more support behind Trump,” said Farah, who launched the “No More Red Ink Campaign” in early 2011 in an effort to persuade the new Republican majority in the House to freeze the debt limit, forcing Washington to live within its means by cutting spending while continuing to service the interest on the debt to prevent default.
The campaign, which has generated more than 1 million letters to House Republicans, started a rebellion within the GOP caucus, but not enough to prevent House Speaker John Boehner and then Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell from going along with the hike.
Farah says only Trump has the political juice to put this critical issue on the front burner.
“This would separate him further from every other candidate seeking the presidency and demonstrate his sincere commitment to ‘making America great again.'”
Right now, Washington is buzzing about the “need” to raise the debt ceiling, again, sometime this fall – the sixth time since Barack Obama entered the White House. The federal government has now borrowed more than $18.3 trillion, with no viable plans to reduce it or pay it off. To pay it off would cost each average American family more than $150,000. The debt stood at $10.6 trillion the day Obama took office. Since then it has increased 70 percent.
The government’s borrowing cap had been suspended by Congress, including the Republican-controlled House, through mid-March. Treasury Department Secretary Jack Lew claims he is deploying “extraordinary measures” to keep the country paying its bills. Lew said those extraordinary measures would not be exhausted before late October, but added that the department couldn’t predict with certainty how long the measures would last.
Farah says Trump has been incredibly successful at setting a new tone for debate within the Republican Party on other issues. He says this one is not only just as important as the others but can help reverse America’s dependency on irresponsible borrowing and make the country stronger and freer.
Farah says, “It’s time for Trump to open up a new offensive front.”
“If I had his ear, as I have once or twice in the past, I would advise Trump to say, as the future president, he would refuse to raise the debt limit to force Washington to live within its means like every American family and business is forced to do,” [link] writes Farah in his daily column today in WND. [link] “He should say that $18 trillion is too much, and that continued borrowing by the federal government is completely unsustainable. The only way to dig out of this hole is to stop borrowing, and, as president, he will not request or approve any future hike in the debt limit.”
Farah added that Trump should also “allay fears on Wall Street that such an action will result in a default by ensuring that Washington, under his leadership, will continue to service the existing debt.”
“And, lastly, he should characterize this action as a great opportunity to return to constitutionally limited government by cutting government spending and programs that never should have been started in the first place,” Farah wrote.
Farah says he gave the same advice to Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain who used it in a debate and established himself as a frontrunner until questions about his personal life forced him to retire from the race.
“Imagine, however, the power of Donald Trump’s voice on this critical issue in 2015. He is already the unchallenged frontrunner in the GOP race,” Farah continued. “His every utterance grabs the attention of the media. And, this proposal is radical. It is as anti-establishment as his positions on illegal immigration and political correctness.”
Read Farah’s entire commentary that is being forwarded to Trump.
