Last month, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released their long-term budget outlook report, which showed our national debt increasing to 141 percent of GDP by the year 2046 and our economic outlook remaining at a nearly stagnant 2.1 percent on average during the next 30 years.  

This dismal report was compounded Friday with a report by the Commerce Department showing our GDP grew at only 1.2 percent in the second quarter of this year, dipping far below initial forecasts. 

 The bleak Commerce Department report cites the main issues being a large drop-off  in business investment, which declined by 6 percent from the first quarter of this year, as well as government investment declining 0.9 percent, with the largest cuts being to federal defense spending and investments by state and local governments.

Unquestionably, we must renew our efforts to allow our most dynamic job creators — our small businesses — to prosper and grow. 

Overregulation and irresponsible spending on broken programs have been the catalysts for these anemic economic reports, and the time to take action and reverse the course for our children and grandchildren is now.  

We must continue to focus on policies that address the need for more jobs and more growth, including mitigating the harmful impacts of government overregulation. Our increasing deficits and irresponsible spending must be put to a stop before it is too late. In the House, we have taken some positive steps in recent years to cut spending and reform unsustainable programs.  

Though there are some troubling findings in the recent CBO and commerce department’s reports, they should be viewed as a renewed call to promote policies to deliver a brighter future for our future generations. 

Robert Hurt  represents Charlotte in the U.S. House of Representatives. He can be reached at his Farmville office at (434) 395-0120.