Congressman Tim Murphy (R-PA 18) was among the 239 Representatives who voted in favor of a resolution to reject President Obama's request for an additional $1.2 trillion to the debt ceiling. The President formally requested Congress to approve a second increase to the debt ceiling January 12th.
Under the Budget Control Act, the debt limit is automatically raised 15 days after the President notifies Congress unless lawmakers vote to deny the borrowing increase.
Murphy said the federal debt is out of control and Congress has to stop the "fiscal insanity" of the White House. He said Mr. Obama has made little effort since they last raised the debt ceiling in August to tackle the federal debt.
Murphy said one way to decrease debt is to look into how federal regulations affect job growth. "If we want to grow revenues for the federal government to take care of the things it needs to do, it comes on growing jobs, it comes on using American energy, and that's where we have to continue to work this," Murphy said.
He also said parts of the government, including the military, need to be streamlined or minimized. "We have to look at the eleven hundred plus federal agencies that are out there," said Murphy. "Do we need them all? And in many cases we may not. And in some cases they can be merged into other agencies."
Murphy is most interested in reforming Medicare. He said there is too much inefficiency in the system, which he notes pays doctors by the number of procedures they perform instead of the number of patients they make better.
He said that while some might try to fix Medicare by paying doctors less, he doesn't believe this would work. "You don't save money by just telling doctors they're not going to pay them or they're going to cut such low levels that they won't deliver care," Murphy said.
The Resolution of Disapproval will now move to the Democrat-controlled Senate where it is expected to fail. If the measure were to pass both bodies, President Obama would still be able to veto the bill, preventing a debt crisis similar to last summer's.
