John Thune Speaks in Madison

Posted on Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Senator John Thune hosted a town hall meeting on the DSU campus on Wednesday, January 9th. Thune discussed the actions Congress took last week over the New Year's holiday to avoid the 'fiscal cliff' and shield more than 99 percent of South Dakotans from the tax increases.

While new tax hikes will affect the wealthy, he said those additional tax dollars won't even cover one week of the federal government's spending.

He outlined how the nation is still in trouble and stated how he feels the real issue before them now is to reduce spending and reform programs while promoting economic growth. Thune shared that over the last 232 years, the country had accrued a $6.3 trillion debt. He then said over the last four years alone, the country accrued an additional $5.3 trillion debt.

In reforming programs, Thune said there are things they need to look at to make sure that the programs are delivering assistance to the people who need it the most.

Thune answered several questions from those in attendance including concerns about the Farm Bill extension and concerns about federal funding for the Lewis and Clark water project.