Stop Kicking the Can Down the Road For Our Kids and Grandkids
The Mess
I have a solution for all of those politicians and pundits who claim to be concerned about the economic crisis of our nation, kicking the can down the road, and the mess we’re leaving for our children and grandchildren. Regardless of how we got in this mess, the facts are that the federal government spends 17% more ($500 billion) more than it receives, and because of this, we owe a $19 trillion national debt. I’m a fiscal conservative, and I think we need to curb our spending, but we can’t fix this without also increasing revenue. Because we’re the ones responsible for this mess, I’m willing to also temporarily increase taxes in order to fix it for the next generation.
Still, the key to the plan is spending cuts. It cuts ALL spending, so however gets money from the federal government will get less, whether you’re a defense contractor or a retiree. If you don’t receive any money from the federal government, there’s nothing to cut. However everyone who pays taxes will temporarily pay more.
The Nickel Plan
I propose the Nickel Plan to not only balance the budget, but to also pay off our national debt. Here are the components of the Nickel Plan:
– Permanently decrease ALL spending (no exceptions) by 5% per year for three years.
– At the end of three years, enact a Balance Budget Amendment, freezing spending forever at the current level at that time.
– Temporarily increase all taxes by 5% per year for 11 years. (Yes, it hurts. We did it–We fix it.)
– At the end of 11 years, freeze the elevated tax rate for three more years (at about 67% of the 2015 level).
– At the end of 14 years, cut taxes by 50%, to a level of approximately 88% of the current tax levels, forever.
Results:
– Balance the budget in 2 years.
– Pay off the national debt in 14 years.
– In 2029, hand our children a balanced budget, no debt, $560 billion in the bank, and a lower tax rate at only 88% of the 2015 level.