As Sheriff of Butler County, Ohio, I know budget reductions are taking place on the local and state

levels. Since 2009 my budget has been cut by $3.9 million. We have readjusted and reassigned
responsibilities to operate within our budget.

In the latest election cycle, most of those running for Congress: Democrat, Republican and
Independent alike, stated that they would be against raising the debt ceiling from $14.294 trillion.

The national debt ceiling is a cap set by Congress on the amount of debt the Federal Government
can legally borrow. It was first set in 1917. Since March, 1962 the debt ceiling has been raised 74
times – 10 of those times occurred since 2001.1 In March 2006 the ceiling was raised to $9 trillion2
and today it is currently at $14.294 trillion1. Since 1975 Federal debt has risen from $542 billion2 to
$14.079 trillion.1

Only our government would think raising the debt ceiling is a good idea.

“The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but has no vision.” Helen Keller.
We must have vision for the future of our great nation.

We are living through the worst economic times. We have borne the brunt of our wages being held or
reduced, our retirements lost or diluted, loss of jobs, and loss of property value. We have been
tightening our belts with hope that it will somehow bring this great country back to where we once
were a short time ago. It seems that when we try to move in the right direction, government officials
are on the other end of the rope pulling us in a different direction. If we, the citizens of this country do
not put extreme pressure on our decision makers, they will pull us over the cliff. All we can do is dig in
our heels to slow this process down.

In the past, our leaders have chosen to kick the can – the debt ceiling – not down the road – but up
the road. It appears, by all indications, they are going to kick it up the road for someone else to
handle and fix.

My father would roll over in his grave knowing what debt our leaders have placed on future
generations.

For example, our government borrowed nearly 40 cents on every dollar that it spent.3
Currently the federal government pays out $197 billion in yearly interest payments. At this trend,
interest could cost the US government $750 billion a year by 2020.4

Hopefully with a little pressure on Congress, they will come up with a plan to cut the federal
government’s budget and maintain our current debt ceiling. Sending a powerful message to the world
that we are not a debtor nation, we take pride in not owing, and not becoming financially dependent
and indebted to China. We should be ashamed and embarrassed.

God Bless the United States of America.

Sheriff Richard K. Jones, Butler County, Ohio

1
CNN Money.com – Jeanne Sahadi, Senior Writer, February, 2011
2
NPR.org – David Welna, March, 2006
3
WSJ.com – J.D. Foster, February, 2011
4
Pittsburghlive.com – Jack Markowitz, February, 2011