Deficit: Nothing should be off the table

Last week, Congress passed PAYGO, a bill that requires SOME new spending to be offset by other spending cuts or tax hikes.

It doesn’t go nearly far enough. We must tell Congress that the ENTIRE budget should be subject to spending cuts.

You may borrow from or copy this letter . . .

Congress passed a PAYGO bill (H.J. Res. 45) that . . . http://www.gop.gov/bill/111/1/hjres45

* exempts 150 programs from any future PAYGO cuts
* encourages the use of tax hikes to pay for new programs

The President congratulated Congress for passing this bill, and then announced a three-year freeze on non-Defense discretionary spending.

Nice try, but there’s something wrong with this picture . . .

* PAYGO doesn’t apply to automatic increases in current entitlement spending, only to new programs
* Defense accounts for 40% of discretionary spending
* together, entitlements and defense account for two-thirds of the proposed budget
* the projected budget deficit is LARGER than ALL OTHER government spending
* tax hikes will only delay or prevent economic recovery

I know what you’re afraid of . . .

* if you address mandatory entitlement spending, you’ll be accused of hating the elderly, the sick, the poor, and veterans
* if you curb Defense and Homeland Security spending, you’ll be accused of undermining national security

But Defense spending and entitlements are the main culprits behind our fiscal mess. And if nothing is done to address these problems now, America will be much poorer and weaker for generations to come.

I’m writing to tell you that NOTHING should be “off the table” when it comes to spending cuts. I encourage you, the entire Congress, and the President to . . .

* reassess the effectiveness of America’s vast military presence overseas, and of our entire Military-Industrial Complex
* find ways to cut costs and reform entitlement programs, including allowing individuals to withdraw from these programs
* reconsider many discretionary programs for both their Constitutionality and effectiveness

A smaller federal government is no longer just an “option,” it is REQUIRED. We simply cannot afford Big Government.

If you commit yourself to cutting spending in ALL areas, I will applaud and support your efforts. Please respond and tell me you will do so.

END LETTER

You may send your letter through DownsizeDC.org’s Educate the Powerful System.

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.