- The 109th Congress should
enact a peace and prosperity budget that
- keeps the budget balanced for at least the next 10 years,
- eliminates more than 200 unnecessary and unconstitutional programs,
- reduces the federal tax burden substantially and in ways that would
promote economic growth,
- includes a tax and expenditure limitation measure that limits federal
spending growth to the rate of annual inflation plus population growth,
- reduces the national debt through federal asset sales, and
- rebates all tax surpluses to taxpayers at the end of each fiscal year
with each taxpayer’s rebate determined as a share of the total federal
taxes he or she paid during the year.
Specifically, Congress should:
-
reduce discretionary spending from 7.1 percent of gross
domestic product to 5 percent with program
terminations, privatization, management reforms, and transfer of
programs to the states;
-
reform Social Security by
moving toward a system of individual savings accounts;
-
reform Medicare and Medicaid to
cut costs and increase efficiency; not add a prescription drug benefit
to Medicare unless there is a full one-for-one cost reduction elsewhere
in the program;
-
establish a ‘‘sunset’’
commission to automatically review all federal programs on a rotating
basis and propose major reforms and terminations;
-
privatize all
government-operated businesses, including Amtrak, the U.S. Postal
Service, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the four power marketing
administrations;
-
privatize activities in all
federal agencies that are commercial in nature, such as air traffic
control, marketing support for agriculture, loan and insurance programs
for exporters, and research for the
energy industry;
-
sell excess asset holdings
(land, buildings, and inventories) of federal departments such as
Interior, Agriculture, and Defense; and
-
support aggressive management
reforms in the federal bureaucracy, including expanding authority to
fire poorly performing workers.
- reduces the size of government from 20 to 15 percent of gross domestic
product over five years,
A recent poll indicates that a majority of Americans believe they could
do a better job of balancing the government budget than the government does.
The government does not seem to be bound by the ordinary budgetary
considerations that ordinary families have to live by.
Neal Boortz has suggested attaching
"The Boortz Addendum" to every appropriation bill offered in
Congress. This addendum would read something like this:
Every sponsor or co-sponsor of this legislation hereby affirms his or
her belief that the need for the federal government of the United States
to spend taxpayer funds on the purposes outlined herein is of greater
importance and urgency than any spending needs which the party or parties
who actually earned these funds may have; such needs being, but not
necessarily limited to, spending for medical care, child care, housing,
food, clothing, transportation, education, insurance, savings and
retirement planning, and religious tithes or conscientious charity.
It became common during the Clinton Administration to speak of government
spending as an "investment." Congress might also therefore attach
the following to each spending bill:
By voting for this legislation I hereby affirm my belief that the
information and knowledge possessed by me and 434 other
Congressman-"investors" is greater than the collective knowledge
and information possessed by a Free Market of 150 million individual
investors, pension fund managers, insurance company executives, mutual
fund administrators, and brokers, all of whom do not have the luxury of
obtaining investment funds by passing a law, but must earn
their investment dollars.
- Arguing
over Non-Existent Budget Surpluses, Harry Browne, February
7, 2002
- Top10
Misconceptions about Government, Harry Browne, June 26, 2001
- Truth
about the Republican & Democratic Parties, the, Harry Browne,
March 23, 1999
Congress must eventually change the fundamental nature of government
services from compulsory to fee-for-service. Those who
benefit from a service should be required to pay for it, not those who do
not benefit. The force of taxation is a morally
illegitimate method of funding services.
Government as a monopoly service provider must be eliminated. Competition
for the provision of all government services must be permitted.
GOP: Gigantic Outlay
Party
next: Immediate
Cuts |
I appreciate your comments
Do you disagree with me?
I will thoughtfully, prayerfully, respectfully and
personally respond to your criticisms
email: comments@KevinCraig.US |
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