Rep. Connie Mack’s “Penny Plan” July 28, 2011
Posted by andiquote in Budget, Debt, Defense, Deficit Spending, Economy, Taxes.Tags: deficit, Economy, Mack, Penny Plan
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One Percent Spending Reduction Act or “The Mack Penny Plan.”
Real cuts! Take a listen!
“It’s a bill that says to Congress that you’ll have to cut 1 percent – or one penny – out of every federal dollar for six years,” he explained.
“At a time when so many in our nation are hurting financially, the federal government needs to do its part to cut spending,” added Mack. “The Penny Plan is a straightforward answer to our nation’s overspending problem that asks government to eliminate only one penny from every dollar it spends — a simple solution that all Americans can rally behind.”
Every time Washington spends more money, our freedom and security are in jeopardy. Voters have continually said ‘enough is enough’ when it comes to Washington’s appetite for spending, and it is time Congress listens,” said Mack.
The proposal has a lot of surface appeal, probably to people of many
political spectrums, but it just wouldn’t work in the real budget world.
Even under the most conservative estimates, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are going to grow by 3.5 trillion dollars between now and 2016 simply due to the vast numbers of baby-boomers who are retiring and becoming eligible for benefits during that period.
The only way this plan could work would be to tell current recipients they are going to take a 1% cut in their SS payments every year for the next six years–even worse, newly eligible persons would be told, “Sorry, we have to cut current Social Security spending levels by an actual 1% each year for the next six years. You get nothing.”
Now factor in the military. Last night, GOP members of the Armed Forces Committee tore into the proposed “massive cuts” to the military budget in the Reid bill. Of course, they are not really cuts at all, they are merely reductions in the rate of increase. The military budget would still rise by multiple billions every year. You can forget any 1% cut there.
So we’re already talking about far more than half the federal budget which will never take 1% cuts–indeed, they will both grow by more than 1% every year. The “Penny Plan” is not simple, it’s merely simplistic.
In my ‘real world budget,’ if I didn’t have enough money coming in to pay the bills, and had to make a mere 1% cut to balance my budget, I’d be thrilled. As it is, our family has had to make an approximate 25% cut over the past 5 years. And, we’re still making it! With a government bloated to this extent, a request of one percent is certainly doable; their whining, almost laughable.
I think you may underestimate both the increasing knowledge of the American people on this issue and their determination not to see their country become a servant of counties, like China, due to the extravagant expenditures of a few in Washington.
Yes, it would mean real 1% cuts, not just a reduction in the increase. The first step would be to change the law which states that these increases are mandatory. After that, let the real cuts begin.
As I said, Americans across the country, over the last few years, have had to make substantial cuts in their personal budgets, and I believe they are at a point where they will not tolerate Washington’s “We can’t afford a cut” attitude. As American people band together, we can, and must pressure Washington to make the necessary cuts or replace them with statesmen who will.
Many, to be dramatic, say, “Our country’s future depends on it,” however, in this case, it truly does.