Sen. Rand Paul(R-KY)
Today Senator Rand Paul(R-KY) introduced his plan to balance the federal budget in five years. Senator Paul first hinted at his plan when he gave the Tea Party response to the State of the Union speech in January. Paul’s budget plan entitled “A Clear Vision to Revitalize America“, if ever implemented, would cut $9.6 trillion in spending as compared to current Congressional Budget Office(CBO) baselines and would pay off $1.8 trillion from the national debt.
To achieve a balanced budget in five years Senator Paul’s plan would repeal Obamacare(just as the RSC budget does) and Dodd-Frank. The plan would also eliminate the Davis-Bacon act which requires the government to pay union wages for various projects needlessly driving up the cost of those projects. Also eliminated under the Paul budget plan are the Departments of Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, Education(while maintaining Pell grants), and Energy, with nuclear responsibilities transferred to a re-established Atomic Energy Commission. Senator Paul would also liquidate the governments ownership stake in bailed out companies like General Motors and Chrysler.
Like the Republican Study Committee(RSC) and Paul Ryan budget plans Senator Paul’s block grants Medicaid and SCHIP, Senator Paul would also block grant Food Stamps(SNAP). The Rand Paul budget plan would also return most domestic programs and agencies funding to 2008 levels before their budgets were inflated by President Obama’s stimulus. Senator Paul would also privatize the much despised Transportation Security Administration(TSA) and would freeze foreign aid to $5 billion a year.
Daily Caller-TSA agents ‘humiliated’ Marine who lost both legs to an IED
Included in Senator Paul’s budget plan is a flat tax rate for both business and individuals(although I didn’t find the exact rate in the plan released today this tax rate is usually 17 or 17.5 percent as it was in last years five year balanced budget plan of Rand Paul, Jim DeMint, and Mike Lee). With the flat tax the estate and gift tax would be eliminated.
When it comes to regulations, which cost businesses nearly $2 trillion every year to comply with, Senator Paul proposes having all regulations that would have an economic impact of over $100 million be subject to congressional approve and would also instill sunset provisions to regulations.
To address the nations entitlement programs which are a major driving factor in the nations declining fiscal health Senator Paul would block grant Medicaid, give every senior the same healthcare options as members of Congress get, and would raise the retirement age of Social Security along with means testing. Rand Paul calculates that by raising the retirement age over time and means testing benefits(wealthy seniors would get less, poor ones would get more) the program would eliminate its unfunded liabilities and remain solvent for the next 75 years. Currently the Social Security program will become insolvent in the mid 2030s. Senator Paul also proposes personal retirement accounts where young people could put their Social Security tax money into giving them control over their retirement savings instead of having that money controlled by Washington bureaucrats and members of Congress(who have a tendency to take that money and spend it on other things).
On the topic of reforming Medicare Senator Paul’s plan says that:
By all accounts, elected officials and federal employees receive the finest health insurance in the country. It is time for every senior to get the best health care in America.
Not only is the Congressional health care plan better, it’s less expensive. Taxpayers will save more than $1 trillion over the first 10 years and reduce Medicare’s 75 year unfunded obligation by $16 trillion. Individual seniors will save thousands of dollars from their personal health care budgets each year while receiving more generous health benefits.
On energy independence Rand Paul’s budget plan would open ANWAR and the outer continental self to oil and natural gas development, approve the building of the Keystone XL pipeline, and promote more permitting for energy development on public lands. All of that is a good thing so that the rest of the nation can experience the job creation and economic growth that North Dakota has experienced thanks to all the drilling going on there as energy companies harness the oil shale in the Bakken formation.
All in all Rand Paul’s budget is ambitious to say the least, we conservatives have been trying to eliminate the Department of Education since the Reagan administration and institute a flat tax since the mid 90s as examples. Given the partial Social Security privatization, the Medicare reforms, flat tax, and the various cuts to government I don’t see a single Democrat ever voting for this budget plan. Which is a real shame because it is on the whole a good budget blueprint that would bring fiscal responsibility to Washington. What issues I have with the Paul plan, such as on defense and means testing entitlement benefits, has less to do with this budget and more to do with the differences philosophically between a conservative(which I am) and a libertarian(which Senator Paul is).
Despite my handful of minor issues with this budget plan if I where a member of either chamber of Congress I would vote for this in a heart beat, the question is will Harry Reid and John Boehner even allow their members to vote on it.
