Fiscal Responsibility
We can easily stop the government from overspending - Make a law that Congressional officials can not be re-elected if they do not balance the budget.
Of course this is not pragmatic and is unlikely to occur. A more pragmatic approach is to make it nearly impossible for a representative be re-elected if they fail to balance the budget. This could be done through a well-funded and influential lobbying group. This has many advantages actually. It is politically independent and can maneuver the ever-changing political landscape and it is pretty easily constructed. Such a group, could have lobbying abilities, campaign influence, and could rate candidates and their ability to budget. It would have local members -thus educating and mobilizing in a grass roots manner.
This is just one of many ideas that essentially place the responsibility where it lays - which is in Congress. It alone carries the responsibility of the purse. The solutions for the the current fiscal irresponsibility must start with Congress.
-Concrete ideas are below- scroll down .
We have been sold the idea that the federal budget does not need to be balanced like a checkbook. But as the middle class can attest, a snowballing federal deficit bleeds away our dollar’s purchasing power. We used to be able to afford a car and now we can barely afford a movie night out with our kids. Much of the reason we have lost our economic opportunities is that the debt to GDP ratio is now 123%. Just to pay the the yearly interest for the federal loans is around one trillion dollars per year. That is our tax money going towards ….nothing.
This impacts our pocket book in 3 ways.
Inflation, which shrinks our paycheck’s purchasing power.
loans from the bank are restricted for individuals and small businesses as we have to compete with the Federal Government.
Interest rates compound through the economy like gravity to make our cost of living one of the highest in the world.
If that is hard to follow- then just feel it. We are not where we used to be on Mainstreet. Windows are boarded up and money does not walk through the door like it used to. Much of this is due to the crazy Federal Budget.
Concrete Ideas
There is more to balancing the budget than anyone can agree on. When it comes to balancing the federal budget economists can not agree on simple questions such as: When is the federal budget too much?
To the ranchers and farmers in rural America, the spiraling debt does not need equations and theories. Common Mainstream sense says this is foolish.
In the 1980- 90s the economy simply outgrew the debt and essentially erased it after some thoughtful cuts. However, this time around it will not be the full solution.
But consider this…
- Increasing the housing sector could create a 6% growth rate. Using deregulation and especially dropping the capital gains taxes on income from house sales will open up rentals to purchase, and create more construction. Encouraging reduced housing loans, and opening up lands in the large economically vital cities could propel lower costs in these areas where economic growth will be sure to follow.
- Carefully evaluating which areas of the budget are winners and losers is key. It can be surprising. Some of the child welfare subsidies actually give a return for every dollar spent by producing good workers and stable families over time. Some tax programs that are supposed to help our economy clearly do not over ten years.
-Federally funded medical programs account for 25% of the budget - totaling $1.6 trillion. In ten years this is expected to balloon to $2.8 trillion or 6 % of our GDP. Only by addressing the elephant in the room are we going to get anywhere. Medicare takes $865 billion, Medicaid uses $618 billion, ACA and Chip takes $141 billion, the Veterans Health care system costs us $153 billion and then there is disability, the Indian Health Service, Federal Employee Health Benefits, Tricare, Ryan White, Community Health Centers, Public Health….the list goes on and on. Our plan is to streamline the federal programs to reduce administrative costs and redundancies, yet improve efficiency and quality. It does not mean cutting programs. It is about thoughtfully taking a fragmented puzzle of programs which were never created to work together and organizing them into a logical system designed to integrate.
-The budget spiral seems to follow campaign finance deregulation. This makes sense in reality as financially dominant entities fund the campaigns and get undue influence in bills and budgetary decisions. We need to get rid of the money influencing decisions. We need to get reverse the Citizens United decision.
- Finally, economists largely agree that economic growth is strongly tied to innovation. Alexander Bell was 25 when he invented most of his ideas. Thomas Edison was 27. Tesla was 28 and Steve Jobs was 21. Eli Whitney was 28. Most inventors are young -with their characteristic curiosity, energy and ability to think outside the box. Currently, the younger generations in America have few opportunities. The old corporate ladder has given way to outsourcing and contractor work. The cost of education and housing pulls them down further. Upward mobility is a thing of the past. They earn half of the national average and minimum wage is Way Below Minimum. It makes total economic sense to get the flow of moneys running through this neglected sector. A dollar in a retired billionaire’s off-shore accounts does nothing to stimulate the economy but a dollar into the younger generation’s hands would go to housing, education, Main Street jobs, raising young families, and investment.. Innovation would again come about with youthful input - stimulating the economy as a whole. These dollars reinvested would be worth many more in 10 -20 years than if they sat idly in safe havens for the elderly rich.
It has been done before. Our best economies have followed periods of fiscal responsibility historically and especially when we have looked carefully at returns for taxpayers money.
Let’s do it-