GOP Rep: Debt is the New 'Red Menace'

The Hill reports:

House Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (Texas) on Wednesday said the growing federal debt is the "red menace" of the 21st century, warning that it is posing both economic and security risks to the United States.

"In the 20th century, the red menace was communism," Hensarling said in Texas, according to a strong>report< in the Jacksonville Daily Progress. "The red menace for the 21st century is our public debt."

Keeping with his communism theme, Hensarling implied that interest payments the U.S. is making to China alone could pose a national security threat.

"The interest we pay to China on our debt, they can essentially afford to buy a [Joint] Strike Fighter every other day," he said, according to the Daily Progress. "Our greatest competitor in the world […] we are building their armed forces with the interest we pay them on the national debt."

Hensarling said President Obama did not put the U.S. on a path to bankruptcy, but blamed him for "pressing on the accelerator." He said last year's healthcare law would increase spending by $2.6 trillion, and would "help cause our debt to triple during this decade."

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