The Utah senator uses examples of collapsed economies from around the world, citing Greece and Italy, to warn of what the U.S. could face if we continue to ignore the dangers of spending.

Sen. Romney statement on the President’s Budget reads, “We have got to get our federal spending under control – and the President’s budget offers an unserious proposal to reduce our deficit that is nowhere near a long-term solution. Hardworking Americans are suffering real economic harm due to historic levels of inflation, which is a direct result of Washington’s failure to address its spending problem.”

During the hearing, Romney begins by describing the public debt held in the country, saying that this portion of the debt makes up approximately 100% of the GDP of the country.

The senator goes on to mention Greece and Italy, stating that Greece reached almost the same number, at about 105%, and that Italy was at about 109%.

The senator says, “If you look at the budget that you have provided to us, you take us to 200% debt as a percentage of the GDP. I don’t know what you all believe that does. I want to make sure the Chairman gets a chance to see that.”

Romney says that if we get to 200% of the GDP or our debt held by the public, there will be “economic calamity,” that people will stop loaning to the U.S., interest rates will go through the roof, and that there will be a “dramatic departure from what we’ve all experienced.”

He goes on to dramatically state, “Every major civilization that’s gone down this path has ended up having their currency no longer become the reserve currency of the world and have economic collapse. We simply cannot continue on a road of adding a trillion dollars of debt every year.”

He asks, “Does the administration have a plan to deal with this? Is there some way we can stop these trillion dollar annual deficits and putting us on a road of financial distress?”

At the end of his discussion at the Budget Committee hearing, Romney makes the point that, as a solution, we will either have to find a way to increase revenue (which he says he doesn’t favor), or find a way to adjust our long-term benefits, “not for current retirees,” but for young people coming along.

Romney makes the claim that if we do not find a way to balance our programs, we’ll find ourselves in a heap of trouble.