Responsible, Balanced Budgets budget Washington’s fiscal irresponsibility is threatening the nation’s long-term solvency and diminishing growth, investment, and job creation. For too many years, career politicians have avoided the public’s overwhelming support for fiscal responsibility, preferring instead the reckless spending of borrowed money on often-wasteful programs. Career politicians have put their short-term reelection before our long-term fiscal health. The current accumulation of debt is crowding out private investment. Fears of future tax hikes are dampening much-needed job-creating capital investment. The ever-increasing debt service burden threatens vital public services as an ever-larger share of tax revenue must be spent on debt payments. A Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment Washington has proven itself incapable of responsible borrowing, time and time again. I fully support the passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to deny Congress the power to borrow against the futures of our children and grandchildren, except under narrow circumstances, such as with a supermajority vote in times of declared war. I support structuring the language of the amendment to ensure that budgets are not balanced through massive job-killing tax hikes inflicted on taxpayers. Real spending reform must be achieved. Zero-Based Budgeting I fully support the implementation of zero-based budgeting within the federal bureaucracy. Zero-based budgeting is just as it sounds – a budget based on each year’s actual needs, not last year’s final budget. A zero-based budget requires bureaucracies to justify every dime of money they intend to spend each year – and ends the current practice of giving each bureaucracy their last year’s budget plus a planned percentage increase. Government waste is magnified when bureaucrats are given scheduled budget increases without any accountability, and frequently leads to year-end spending sprees so that money left unused is not subtracted from the next year’s budget. I believe budgets should be justified based on need every year – with nothing taken for granted. Ending Pork Spending I oppose the wasteful and potentially corrupting influence of pork barrel spending. The practice of larding up massive spending bills with hundreds or even thousands of parochial pork projects lacking Congressional oversight or debate is an unacceptable use of taxpayer money, as well as an unacceptable breach of the public trust. Furthermore, these projects serve as the “grease” responsible for passage of even larger and fiscally irresponsible spending bills. Congressionally-directed spending should serve a national, not a local interest. It should be subject to oversight, debate, and cooperation – never added on by one member behind the scenes. I will fight against the waste of taxpayer money and will work hard to restore the public trust in government by ensuring the Washington favor factory is closed to special interests. Oversight and Reform I believe Congress must play a more active role in protecting taxpayers and holding bureaucracies accountable for waste, fraud, and abuse. Congress must exercise a more aggressive oversight and investigatory role, but it also must ensure that the various federal agencies implement better internal controls, audits, and efficiency reviews, as well as draw on more talent from the private sector. hiresforcongress/issues/responsible-balanced-budgets/
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 12:37:35 +0000
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