Pearce Rails Against Debt, Deficit

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., deplored the nation’s debt, the deficit and the erosion of values in a speech Thursday to the New Mexico Legislature, kicking off the annual series of addresses by members of Congress.

Pearce has said previously that the U.S. is headed toward “total economic collapse,” and he reiterated that theme with lawmakers, saying political leaders of both parties “are fiddling with people’s lives in a very dramatic fashion.”

Averting the fiscal cliff wasn’t a solution, because it didn’t deal with the deficit and the debt, Pearce told lawmakers.

Spending more than is brought in “does not work for your family, doesn’t work for the business that you’re in, and it is not working for the U.S. government.”

Worse yet, he said, “We are printing the money to make up the difference, which is far more catastrophic than to just borrow the money.”

Pearce voted against the year-end deal that averted the fiscal cliff.

With a per capita income among the lowest in the nation, New Mexico is affected disproportionately by the nation’s fiscal policies, the congressman said.

“Much of what I’m doing in Washington is to say New Mexico is hurt worse than the other states by the policies that we’re implementing,” Pearce told House and Senate members in a joint session.

The congressman also complained about “the destruction of the value system in this country.” He cited a trucking company owner in southeastern New Mexico who told him he couldn’t get people to take high-paying driving jobs “because the people would rather stay on the government assistance.”

Pearce, who is among the most conservative members of the U.S. House, won election to a fifth term from southern New Mexico’s 2nd District in November.
— This article appeared on page A6 of the Albuquerque Journal