RSC Unveils Plan to
Balance the Budget in Five Years
March 29, 2012
The Republican Study Committee (RSC) unveiled Cut, Cap, and Balance: A
Fiscal year 2013 Budget, a conservative budget blueprint that brings our
country’s federal budget deficit into balance in five years.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), RSC Chairman, and Rep Scott Garrett (R-NJ), RSC
Budget and Spending Task Force Chairman, issued the following statement:
“Our country’s spiraling debt crisis has reached a tipping point. We
need a plan that makes the hard decisions now, not later, to solve our
spiraling debt crisis. In the absence of President Obama coming forward
to lead our country on the most pressing issue of our time, the RSC
stepped up to the plate today by putting forward a bold solution to
balance the budget in five years. The president and his fellow Democrats
seemingly believe the laws of common-sense do not apply and we can
afford to continue down the current path of debt without consequence. We
at the RSC refuse to sit back and accept a future of America in decline.
The RSC budget represents a clear, practical way to cut spending,
balance the budget, and get the government out of the way of the way so
our economy can begin growing again.”
Below is a summary of the RSC’s proposal to balance the budget in 5
years. Full details are available here.
Reduce Spending
Repeal
ObamaCare to eliminate $636 billion in additional spending over ten
years.
Cut
discretionary spending slightly below FY 2008 levels to $931 billion
in FY 2013. This equals the level proposed in last year’s
House-passed budget resolution minus the sequestration under the
Budget Control Act. Freeze it until the budget balances.
Prioritize our nation’s security by funding defense at the same
level as the House Republican budget, growing from $554 billion in
FY 2013 to $699 billion in FY 2022.
Reduce
non-defense discretionary spending from $377 billion in 2013 to $329
billion in 2022.
Save $1.3
trillion over ten years by 1) returning combined spending on 70+
welfare programs to pre-recession levels once unemployment drops to
6.5% as in the RSC’s
Welfare Reform Act
(H.R. 1167) and 2) reducing unnecessary mandatory spending in
programs outside of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
Save
Medicare
Put
Medicare on the path to long-term solvency by adopting the reforms
proposed in the House Republican budget. These include transitioning
to a solvent “premium-support” system and slowly phasing in an
increase in the eligibility age for those born in 1958 and after.
Because these policies make no changes for individuals currently
age 55 and older, they make no contribution to the budget
balancing within the 10-year budget window.
Reform
Medicaid
Block-grant Medicaid and remove Washington D.C.’s burdensome red
tape. This budget would empower the states with maximum flexibility
to determine Medicaid eligibility and benefits, thereby improving
the quality of care and access to vital services for the neediest
and most vulnerable Americans. Based on the model set by the
successful welfare reforms of 1996, federal funding for Medicaid and
the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) will be set at
current levels for the next ten years. This proposal follows the
RSC’s
State Health Flexibility Act
(H.R. 4160).
Safeguard
Social Security
Strengthen Social Security’s long-term finances. This budget would
slowly phase in an increase in the Social Security full-retirement
age for individuals born in 1958 and after to an eventual
full-retirement age of 70. Because this policy makes no changes
for individuals currently age 55 and older, it makes no
contribution to the budget balancing within the 10-year budget
window.
Enact
Pro-Growth Tax Reform
Prevent
any new tax increases on the American people. This budget proposes a
smarter tax code that is simpler, flatter, and fairer in line with
the RSC’s
Jobs Through Growth Act
(H.R. 3400).
