Pence (and Hensarling) in the WSJ on fiscal conservatism

Reps. Jeb Hensarling and Mike Pence in the WSJ...

With this piece, Pence heads back to the fiscal conservatives. Given his endorsement of Sodrel, is this a repentant turn-around or is he trying to play both sides of the debate?

The weirdest thing: In the first paragraph, Pence points to the Congress in which Sodrel served as the beginning of the "skyrocketing" spending. It's enough to give you whiplash!

Fiscal storm clouds are upon us. In five years, federal spending has skyrocketed to 24.7% from 19.9% of our economy. That's the highest level since World War II. Borrowing has ballooned the national debt to $11.9 trillion from $7.3 trillion, a five-year increase equal to the accumulation of debt between President George Washington and President Bill Clinton.

Unfortunately, the long-term fiscal picture is worse. As the Baby Boom generation retires and the cost of health care continues to escalate, entitlement programs will cause federal spending to rise to 40% of our economy, double its post-World War II average. This is assuming that spending does not increase even further...

Can we tax our way out of this problem? No....taxes would have to double. This would crush our economy and condemn future generations to a far lower standard of living....

Can we grow our way out? Unfortunately, no....they alone are insufficient....

Can we continue to borrow our way out of the problem? Borrowing of that magnitude would drive up interest rates to unimaginable levels, crowding out borrowing opportunities for families and businesses....

Without spending discipline only one option remains: monetizing the debt, also known as inflation....

That is why we are proposing a Spending Limit Amendment to the Constitution....would limit spending to one-fifth of the economy (our historical spending average since World War II). The limit could only be waived by a declaration of war or by a two-thirds congressional vote....