McCarthy: It's the Democrats, not the GOP, who are willing to shut down the government over the budget impasse

 Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) submits his weekly update from Capitol Hill. In his words:

 "It was good to be home this week working out of the district, meeting and talking with local constituents about their concerns and relaying to them what I’ve been working on in Congress.

 One of the highlights of this week was addressing high school seniors who are participating in the Jim Burke Education Foundation Ford Dimension leadership program.  This is an impressive group of students and a great program founded by one of our community’s great leaders, the late Jim Burke.  As I spoke with these high school seniors who shared with me their future plans for college and what they plan to study, it was a stark reminder of the importance of the decisions we make today.  The actions we take now to address the fiscal challenges we face as a country will shape the future of these high school seniors.

 "Right now the federal government borrows 40 cents out every dollar it spends.  Our national debt is over $14 trillion, and it has increased by $3.5 trillion in the 25 months the President has been in office.  According to the President’s own budget, the deficit is predicted to reach an all time high of over $1.6 trillion just this year.

 " The House took immediate action by passing a budget measure to immediately cut $100 million in spending and keep the government running.  This is a necessary first step as more government borrowing and spending has negative impacts on economic expansion and negative impacts on you back at home. This week instead of considering these needed spending cuts, Senate Democratic leaders have been talking about allowing the government to shut down rather than face our challenging fiscal reality. 

 "That’s why we even proposed another resolution to cut spending and keep the government running with a short-term spending measure that eliminates earmark slush funds and includes program eliminations from President Obama’s own budget.  I don’t see how Democrats can’t take these basic steps toward smart fiscal policy.

"This week I also attended the unveiling of a project in McKittrick which is the first of its kind in the world.  A new type of solar technology is being utilized to enhance our local oil recovery.  As many of you know, it is the production of steam that is necessary to lift heavy crude oil from the ground, and this solar technology allows for the production of more steam at a lower cost to produce more oil.  Once again, Kern County is leading the way in terms of energy development and serves as a model for our nation.  I couldn’t be prouder to have this in our district.

 "I hope everyone has a great weekend.