The "Penny Plan:" A 1% Cut In Real Spending (Not the Rate of Growth) For Six Years

One snag: It includes 1% cuts, per year, to SS and Medicare too, which is probably unworkable right now.

WASHINGTON, July 13, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Congressman Mack today welcomed the support of Tea Party Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) as he signed on to the "One Percent Spending Reduction Act," legislation - also known as the "Penny Plan" - that was introduced by Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) last week, and authored by Congressman Connie Mack (R-FL) last spring in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mack stated: "The support for the Penny Plan is growing almost daily on both sides of Capitol Hill as we draw closer to President Obama's August 2 deadline to raise the debt ceiling and continue Washington's reckless spending. Senator Paul's election last year was another clear example of the voters saying 'enough is enough' with the way Washington spends their money and having Senator Paul's support for the Penny Plan should send say to those voters, 'We heard you loud and clear.'"

Presently the Mack Penny plan enjoys the support of over 40 co-sponsors in the U.S. House, the backing of the Republican Study Committee's 103 Members, and two key U.S. Senators.

The Penny Plan balances the budget by:
-- Cutting total federal spending by one percent each year for six
consecutive years,
-- Setting an overall spending cap of 18 percent of gross domestic
product in 2018, and
-- Reducing overall spending by $7.5 trillion over 10 years.

If Congress and the President are unable to make the necessary cuts, the bill's fail-safe triggers automatic, across-the-board cuts to ensure the one percent reductions are achieved.

Last week Senator Enzi stated: "This proposal is simple, effective and real. That's a winning combination that I hope my colleagues can get behind. If they can't, I hope the people who elect them will."

Mack added, "At President Obama's news conference last week, he talked about hard-working American families having to make tough budget decisions at home - so is it too much to ask the federal government to do the same and eliminate one penny out of every federal dollar spent?"

ArthurK. just alerted me to this plan, which I hadn't heard about; Truman North wanted to write about a similar idea but I didn't believe him (that is, I didn't believe the magnitude of the cuts in ten years).

I don't know how you actually just cut SS and Medicare for current retirees without simply losing all political power next year and having those changes undone.

However, as far as every other account...

posted by Ace at 06:23 PM

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