Balancing the federal budget sounds scary. From what members of Congress say, we will all have to give up everything in order to balance the budget. I realize that is an extreme statement, but it does seem as if some members of Congress are trying to turn the American people against the idea of balancing the budget. Well, one person has come up with an almost painless solution.<\/p>\n
Yesterday Hot Air<\/a> posted an article by Jimmie Bise, Jr., on what it would actually take to balance the budget. It is one of the most sensible plans I have heard. He cites a plan put forth by Nick Gillespie and Veronica de Rugy called “The 19 Percent Solution”<\/a>. <\/p>\n According to the article at Hot Air, this is the essence of the plan:<\/p>\n “A balanced budget based on 19 percent of GDP would mean $1.3 trillion in cuts over the next decade, or about $129 billion annually out of ever-increasing budgets averaging around $4.1 trillion. Note that these are not even absolute cuts, but trims from expected increases in spending.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The article also points out the year-to-year growth of federal spending. From 2001 to 2002: 5 percent, 2002 to 2003: 4.5 percent, 2003 to 2004: 4.3 percent, 2004 to 2005: 4.2 percent, 2005 to 2006: 11.1 percent, 2006 to 2007: 3.6 percent, 2007 to 2008: 3.4 percent, 2008 to 2009: 6.5 percent, 2009 to 2010: 13.9 percent, 2010 to 2011: 5.3 percent. The article points out that the average increase per year from 2001 to 2011 was 6.1 percent.<\/p>\n The article suggests:<\/p>\n “Are our leaders willing and able to identify and cut just $25 billion in waste and excess out of more than $700 billion in non-defense discretionary spending? Is reducing the $714 billion the Department of Defense received in 2010 by a paltry $25 billion impossible? Can Medicare and Medicaid, two programs that are infamous for waste and fraud and cost well over $720 billion in 2010, find $35 billion in efficiencies? The specific cuts should be open to negotiation, but the historical record shows that the available level of government revenue is fixed.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This plan definitely needs to be added to the discussion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Balancing the federal budget sounds scary. From what members of Congress say, we will all have to give up everything in order to balance the budget. I realize that is an extreme statement, but it does seem as if some … Continue reading \n
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