feinberg economic plan
TRANSCRIPT
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Turning the Lights Back OnRestoring the Shining City
Evan Feinberg
Candidate for U.S. Congress18
thDistrict of Pennsylvania
www.evanfeinberg.comPaid for by Evan Feinberg for Congress
http://www.evanfeinberg.com/http://www.evanfeinberg.com/ -
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Evan Feinberg: Letter to the Taxpayer..3
Executive Summary...5
Summary Tables and Charts....6
Slash Spending: Discretionary Spending, by Agency).8
Keep Our Promises: Entitlement Reform.....16
Grow the Economy: Tax and Regulatory Reform.20
Conclusion: The Shining City on a Hill..23
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Dear Taxpayer of the 18th District of PA,
I want to share with you a comprehensive and detailed plan to save our country from fiscal ruin.
Some pundits will call this political suicide, because my budget will anger special interest groups of allstripes. Despite this potential political risk, I am convinced a majority of Americans believe the time for
political expediency is over and want their leaders to offer substantive solutions. The American people
prefer a candidate with courage and conviction to stand against agents of the status quo in Washington.
Ronald Reagan often remarked that America is a shining city on a hill. In doing so, Reagan
invoked our Founders vision that America was to be a great experiment in limited government. The
founders had this crazy idea that the American people could govern themselves. Not only did the
experiment prove successful, but America became the first nation in human history to develop an
antidote to poverty: freedom.
Yet after over two centuries of prosperity like the world has never known, the American dream
is at risk of failure. The lights of the city are flickering. The Constitution, originally meant to be a
restraint on the size and scope of government, is trampled on and ignored. The result is nearly $16
trillion in debt with structural deficits of over $1 trillion annually. Our debt is grinding our economy to a
standstill and many Americans are hurting.
For too long, politicians in Washington, D.C. have talked about cutting the deficit, but they do
nothing about it. My opponent in this springs Republican primary voted with President Obama to
authorize $2.4 trillion in new debt-- the fourth time hes voted to increase the debt limit, for a total of
$5 trillion in new debt. When he arrived in Washington in 2002, the debt limit was $6.4 trillion. Now, it
is $16.7 trillion.
Its time to stop spending. Tim Murphy voted to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; I
propose privatizing them. Tim Murphy voted to expand government-run health care for children and
expand the bankrupt Medicare entitlement program; I propose real-world solutions to save these
programs rather than continuing to throw good money after bad. And while Tim Murphy has spent his
career supporting wasteful spending like "Cash for Clunkers" and the Bridge to Nowhere, I offer real
and specific cuts to unnecessary federal programs.
The House of Representatives had just one vote last year for a balanced budget, offered by the
conservative Republican Study Committee, and Tim Murphy voted against it. Yes, thats right. Tim
Murphy voted with Obama to add $2.4 trillion in new debt in the same year he voted against a
conservative budget to balance the books.
In contrast to Tim Murphy, I have personally developed the following solutions to our countrys
fiscal problems. These ideas, tables, and figures do not come from campaign staff or highly-paid
consultants. I personally spent many late nights and long hours developing solutions to our countrys
fiscal problems.
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My guiding principles are simple. Is a program constitutional? Is it duplicative? Is it necessary? Is
it spending money wisely? Is the program delivering results? Can the program be reformed to provide
better benefits at a lower cost? I took a comprehensive look at the entire federal government and
developed specific answers.
The solutions are straightforward: dramatically reduce discretionary spending, reform
entitlement programs, and eliminate every tax on productive activity. If we unleash the ingenuity of
the American people, our nations light can shine brighter than ever.
Politicians from both parties will talk about balancing the budget. Many will even support a
balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitutiona worthy reform. But these words are
empty rhetoric unless politicians get specific on the programs and agencies they will cut, eliminate, or
reform to get our fiscal house in order.
During my time in Washington, D.C., I had the opportunity to work for two courageous United
States Senators who led by example-- Senator Tom Coburn and Senator Rand Paul. In each office, my
job was to identify wasteful spending and develop innovative solutions to our countrys fiscal woes.
Sen. Coburn published a 600-page plan, Back in Black, that slashed $9 trillion from the federal
budget over the next 10 yearsthe most detailed and comprehensive look at our federal budget in
modern politics. Sen. Paul drafted and forced a vote on legislation to balance the budget in just five
years by dramatically reducing spending and reforming entitlements. I am proud each of them has
endorsed my candidacy, and I owe many of the particular ideas in this plan to their efforts.
With Turning the Lights Back On, I aim to show the voters of the 18 th Congressional District my
specific plan to save our country. It is my sincere hope that putting forward such a plan becomes a
requisite litmus test for every candidate running for federal office across the country and can serve asa guiding light to all of our elected officials in moving forward to restore the Americandream.
Sincerely,
Evan Feinberg
Republican Candidate
United States Congress (PA-18)
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Executive Summary
The Turning the Lights Back On (TLBO) Plan slashes spending, reforms unsustainable entitlement
programs, and fixes our tax code to get our economy moving again. The TLBO achieves the following:
$661 billion in spending cuts in the first year of the plan (2013); $9.1 trillion in total spending cuts (2013-2022),$11.8 trillion less than the Presidents budget; A balanced budget in just three years (2015); Eliminates Four Agencies and 233 Programsreal cuts instead of budget gimmicks; Saves Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security andother Entitlement Programs from bankruptcy; Scraps the current tax code and replaces it with a pro-growth flat tax which reduces the total
tax burden on Americans by $4.5 trillion over 10 years.
The Turning the Lights Back On plan can be broken down into three key initiatives:
Slash Spending. This budget reduces discretionary spending by entirely eliminating unnecessaryor unconstitutional agencies (Department of Education, Housing and Urban Development,
Commerce, and Energy); pursuing meaningful reductions in defense spending without making
America less safe; eliminating duplicative programs; and cutting wasteful and other unnecessary
spending.
Keep our Promises. This country has made promises to seniors and veterans that it must honor.We can keep our promises with common-sense reforms to fix these programs rather than let
them go bankrupt. A different reform is necessary for each of our major entitlements
Medicare, Medicaid, Social Securitybut each receives a needed overhaul.
Grow the Economy. The TLBO plan institutes a 17 percent flat tax on individuals, families andbusinesses, abolishes the death tax and gift taxes, and allows companies to repatriate profits
from overseas without taxation. My plan lifts onerous regulations, starting with a repeal of
Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, Sarbanes-Oxley, the new FDA Food Safety Regulations, and the full
repeal of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). TLBO puts procedural reforms in place to
prevent unelected bureaucrats from circumventing Congress to put in place new ones. It
conducts a full audit of the Federal Reserve and the government will begin allowing gold and
silver to be used as currency.
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Summary Tables
Table 1: TLBOSummary of Effect on Deficits/Surpluses (in billions)
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2013-2022
Revenues 2,313 2,468 3,031 3,225 3,519 3,879 4,144 4,423 4,712 4,918 36,632
Outlays 2,849 2,882 3,018 3,234 3,369 3,537 3,786 3,963 4,149 4,403 35,192
Total Deficit -536 -414 13 -9 150 342 358 460 563 515 1,440
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
5,000
5,500
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
In billions ($)
Spending vs. Revenues
Revenues
Outlays
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Table 2: Total SpendingTLBO, CBO Baseline, Presidents Budget (in billions)
Total Outlays Comparison 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2013-2022
TLBO 2,849 2,882 3,018 3,234 3,369 3,537 3,786 3,963 4,149 4,403 35,192
CBO 3,573 3,658 3,836 4,086 4,259 4,439 4,714 4,960 5,205 5,520 44,251
President 3,803 3,883 4,060 4,329 4,532 4,728 5,004 5,262 5,537 5,820 46,959
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Outlaysin
Billions($)
Total Spending (Outlays)
TLBO
CBO
President
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Slash Spending: Discretionary Spending Cuts
Discretionary spending refers to the amount of money spent each year by our government as
determined by Congress. The only way to get our discretionary budget under control is to eliminate
entire programs and agencies from the federal budget and freeze discretionary spending at reduced
levels over the next ten years.
Most conservative budgets roll back spending levels to either 2006 or 2008 appropriations levels. It is
not enough, however, to simply roll back the top-line funding levels. Historically, government programs
and agencies grow much bigger and much faster than we anticipate. The only way to get spending
under control is to eliminate entire agencies and programs
In 2012, our discretionary spending budget is $1.319 trillion. Under my plan, in fiscal year 2013 the
discretionary budget will be just $821 billiona realization of $498 billion in real spending cuts from
discretionary spending. Against the CBO baseline, these savings are $399 billion (the discrepancy is due
to the CBO-anticipated cuts associated with the Budget Control Act).
Below are specific cuts I propose to the discretionary budget, with the total departmental savings for
FY2013. See Table 3 for complete 10-year savings, broken down by department.
Overall Discretionary Reforms. While my plan makes sweeping and specific cuts to agencies, programs
and projects, there are a few important reforms across the government. First, my plan permanently
bans all earmarks from the federal budget. Second, my plan puts in place a new statutory requirement
to cut real spending the moment any new spending is even authorized (referred to as Cut -Go by the
Republicans in the House). Third, to prevent unauthorized federal spending, my plan would require
every piece of new legislation to cite its authorizing legislation (all appropriations are supposed to be
authorized by previous legislation). Further, improper citation would be a point of order against
unauthorized spending on the House floor.
While these reforms help to prevent the continued growth in appropriations, what we really need is an
agency by agency, program by program, line by line look at the federal budget. I submit that in-depth
examination below.
Department of Education (-$107 billion). Reagan once called the Department of Education, Jimmy
Carters bureaucratic boondoggle, and set out to eliminate it. He did this for good reason: since 1965,
the federal government has invested well over $2 trillion in federal education dollars, ramped up
significantly with the advent of the Department of Education under President Carter and again underthe No Child Left Behind legislation under President Bush. Student achievement, however, has
remained stagnant despite all of this spending. We should abolish the federal Department of Education
immediately and restore power to the States each of which has its own Department of Education.
Programs to be Eliminated (78): Elementary and Secondary Education Programs (68 total);
Special Education and Rehabilitation; Student Aid, Postsecondary Education; Vocational and
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Adult Education; Innovation and Improvement; English Language Acquisition; Education
Sciences; Safe and Drug-Free Schools; Departmental Management.
Department of Energy (-$34.2 billion). Another bureaucratic boondoggle attributable to Jimmy Carter,
the Department of Energy was created to regulate oil prices and help us eliminate our dependence on
foreign oil. The entire department has been a colossal failure. Much worse, this agency is crushing
American energy producers with undue regulatory burdens, investing in fledgling companies unworthy
of private investment like Solyndra, and misallocating capital by picking winners and losers in energy
markets.
Western PA has felt the weight of the Department of Energys heavy hand. If the federal government
gets out of the way, our region can again lead the world in energy production: coal, oil and, of course,
natural gas. The Department of Energy should be eliminated immediately.
Programs to be Eliminated (12): Energy Efficiency and Renewables; General Science; Vehicle
Technologies; Fossil Energy Research; Technology Loan Guarantee Programs; Nuclear Energy
Research; Power Marking Administrations; Electricity Research; Strategic Peteroleum Reserve;
Energy Information Administration; Energy Star; Office of Indian Energy.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (-$46.3 billion). This department contributed greatly
to the housing crisis and has done little to nothing to help Americans out of poverty. In fact, federal
housing has led to more crime and economic turmoil. We should abolish the Department of
Housing and Urban Development and restore state and local control and allow the free market to
work.
Programs to be Eliminated (23): Rental Assistance; Housing Finance; Public Housing; Native
American/Hawaiian Programs; Brownfields Economic Development Initiative; Capacity Building
for Community Development and Affordable Housing Grants program; Doctoral Dissertation
Research Grant program; General Research and Technology Activity program; HOME Investment
Partnerships Program; NeighborWorks America; Self-Help Homeowner Opportunity Program;
The University Community Fund; Rural Innovation Fund Program; Transformation Initiative:
Natural Experiments Grant Program; Transformation Initiative Research Grants: Demonstration
and Related Small Grants; Transformation Initiative Research Grants: Sustainable Community
Research Grant Program.Department of Commerce (-$9.26 billion). This Department includes a few useful functions within an
agency that is otherwise doing more harm than good in promoting domestic and internationalcommerce. The Census Bureau, Patent Office, and the International Trade Administration are all
appropriate functions of government and should be maintained, but can operate under the auspices of
various other agencies.
Programs to be Eliminated (14): Broadband Opportunities Program; Economic Development
Administration; International Trade Administration; Manufacturing Extension Partnership;
Technology Innovation Program; Pacific Salmon State Grants; Minority Business Development
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Agency; Capital Construction Fund Program; National Marine Aquaculture Initiative Sea
Grants; Fisheries Disaster Assistance; Fishing Capacity Reduction Program; Saltonstall-
Kennedy Grant Program; Habitat Restoration; Law Enforcement Program
Department of Defense (-$100 billion). Defense is one of the key functions of the federal
governmentone of the key enumerated powers in the United States Constitution. It is not acceptable
to slash dollars to our service members, important weapons programs, or other critical factors to our
military readiness. When the government is in charge of something, however, there will always be
waste, fraud, duplication and inefficiency. For too long, conservatives have been fighting for a top-line
number for defense spending rather than justifying every dollar were spending based on its value
toward keeping us safe.
Senator Tom Coburn outlined $1 trillion in defense budget reductions that return us to the level of
spending achieved just five years ago at the height of the Iraq surge. His plan achieves this savings
without reducing the size of our force orany major procurement or weapons modernization programs.
My plan implements Sen. Tom Coburns Back in Black Defense cuts in full.
Programs to be Eliminated (1): Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) Program.
Department of Interior (-$7 billion). Few Americans know what this department does, and when they
find out they may be alarmed that it manages one of every five acres of land in this country. The Office
of Management and Budget gives the Department of Interior terrible marks each year for their
mismanagement of taxpayer dollars. There are some functions at Interior worth maintaining, but we
can do much to spend dollars more efficiently, eliminate duplicative programs, and cut unnecessary
spending. We can cut this agencys funding in half easily without threatening its core functions.
Programs to be Eliminated (6): Cost Share Leveraging Program; Historic Preservation Programs;
National Parks 100th birthday; Mine clean-up funds for completed states; State and tribal
Wildlife grants
Department of Homeland Security (-$8 billion). Created in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks, the
Department of Homeland Security follows in a long tradition of well-intended federal agencies that
deliver poor outcomes. This agency does, however, implement core functions of the federal
government in connection to national defense preparedness. My plan finds significant savings by
privatizing the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and eliminating duplicative and unnecessary
programsparticularly many of the grant programs to state and local governments.
Programs to be Eliminated (15): Emergency Operation Centers; Intercity Bus Security Grant
Program; Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program; Metropolitan Medical Response System;
Citizens Corps Program; Drivers License Security Grant Program; Interoperability Emergency
Communications Grant Program; Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Rescue Grants;
Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grants; Boating Safety Financial Assistance Formula Grant;
National Fire Academy Fellowship Program; DHS Scholars and Fellows Educational Program;
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Office of Bombing Prevention; Domestic Nuclear Detection Office; Transportation Security
Administration
Department of Justice (-$5 billion). The Department of Justice (DOJ) serves an important role in
keeping the American people safe, but Congress has expanded the DOJs focus s ignificantly beyond its
original mission to include a myriad of duplicative and wasteful programs. By eliminating duplication,
rooting out waste and fraud, and reforming critical DOJ programs, my plan saves DOJ $5 billion annually.Programs to be Eliminated (9): Project Gunrunner; ATFs National Center for Explosives
Training and Research; National Gang Intelligence Center; National Gang Targeting,
Enforcement, and Coordination Center; ATF Violent Crime Reduction Program; State
Criminal Alien Assistance Program; Public Safety Benefits Program; Participation in the
World Anti-Doping Agency
Department of Health and Human Services (-$10 billion). The Department of Health and Human
Services represents fully one quarterof all federal outlays. While most of these outlays are on themandatory side, there are plenty of savings that we find within the conglomerate of HHS agencies.
Examples include the consolidation of public health agencies (collapsing the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and
reforming the Indian Health Service by moving those funds to the Bureau of Indian Affairs through the
Interior Department. The Title X family planning services funding, the program which funds Planned
Parenthood, should be eliminated completely. My plan cuts $10 billion from this department in 2013.
Programs to be Eliminated (29): CLASS Act, The Job Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals
program; The Rural Community Facilities program; The Community Economic Development
program (CED); Voting Access for Individuals with Disabilities grant program; Healthy MarriagePromotion and Responsible Fatherhood Grants; Public Health Emergency Preparedness Grant
Program; World Trade Center Health Monitoring Program; Academic Centers for Public Health
Preparedness and Advanced Practice Centers; Academic Centers for Public Health Preparedness
and Advanced Practice Centers; Healthy Communities; Genomics; Built Environment; The Rural
Access to Emergency Devices program; The Adolescent & Young Adult Health Program; The
Safety Promotion and Injury & Violence Prevention program; Children's Hospital Graduate
Medical Education Payment Program; Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Program; Education
Research Centers Program (ERCs); Denali Commission; Preventive Health and Health Services
Block Grant (PHHSBG); Allied Health and Other Disciplines and Patient Navigators; Racial and
Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program and the Healthy Communitiesprogram; Title X Family Planning; Abstinence Education Block Grant; The Adolescent Family Life
program; The Personal Responsibility Education program; State Health Access Program; Teen
Pregnancy Prevention program
Department of Transportation (-$15 billion). The Department of Transportation has annual funding of
roughly $77 billion: $55 billion from gas taxes and $22 billion from appropriations. Despite all of this
funding, we have deficient and dilapidated roads and bridges across the country and the Government
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Accountability Office (GAO) excoriates the agency for its ineffectiveness and waste. Infrastructure
spending is the Constitutional and practical responsibility of state and local governments. My plan
eliminates unnecessary spending, and allows states to opt out of federal transportation programs and
keep their tax dollars. These reforms will save $20 billion in 2013.
Programs to be Eliminated (17): Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Support;Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction; New Starts; Paul S. Sarbanes
Transit in Parks Program; The Rail-line Relocation Grants Program; High Speed Rail; Denali
Access System Program; Appalachian Development Highway System; Regional Funding
Accounts; Federal Lands Highways Program; Recreational Trails Program; National Scenic
Byways Program; Safe Routes to School; National Historic Covered Bridge Preservation
Program; Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program; Highway Earmark Accounts;
Enhancement Grants
Department of Agriculture (-$10 billion). The Department of Agriculture boasts a rate of one employee
for every nine farmers and provides farm subsidies in excess of 25 billion each year. The agency isriddled with duplicative nutrition programs, misguided and nonsensical subsidies, and ineffective
programs. My plan cuts $10 billion from the departments current budget.
Programs to be Eliminated (12): International Forest Program; Food for Peace Title II Grants;
Eliminate Agency; Environmental Literacy Programs; Forest Stewardship Program; Grants to
American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Organizations for Nutrition and Supportive
Services; Summer Seamless option of the National School Lunch Program; FAS international
training and education programs within the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education;
Rural Housing Service; Rural Utilities Service; Rural Business Coop. Service; Rural Development
Department of State and Foreign Aid (-$20 billion). The State Department serves a critical function in
American government, but there is reason to question the effectiveness and desirability of many of the
departments programs. Our foreign aid budget performs valuable diplomatic and humanitarian work
around the world. On the other hand, we spend too much of the budget trying to buy off uncooperative
allies and even outright enemies. For instance, Egypt, Pakistan, and the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) are all recipients of American foreign aid, despite often working against our interests
in the Middle East. Moreover, we spend billions annually helping countries from whom we borrow
billions from every year like China and Russia. We are hundreds of billions in debt to China and continue
to borrow, yet we send over a billion dollars back to treat Chinese HIV/AIDS patients.
We can also save $4 billion by eliminating voluntary U.S. payments to the United Nations, which no
longer represents the interests of the United States or our allies. Long-term, the United States shouldpursue complete withdrawal from the U.N.
With a $15 trillion national debt, we should focus scarce resources on domestic priorities. Reducing
foreign aid and cutting ineffective programs at the State Department will save 20 billion dollars next
year.
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Programs to be Eliminated (5): National Endowment for Democracy; International Clean
Technology Fund; Voluntary Funding for the United Nations and the UN Tax Equalization
Fund; The Asia Foundation; East-West Center
Environmental Protection Agency (-$10.1 billion). A modern creation (1970), the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) is a $10 billion economical albatross. The spending programs run by the EPAare merely grant programs intended to promote state initiatives to protect the environment. Why dont
we just let the states keep their money? More problematically, the EPA enforces dozens of
environmental laws and onerous regulations. There is little to no evidence to suggest the EPA is making
our environment any cleaner, and the free market remains the most powerful tool to maintaining our
environment. The EPA should be abolished immediately and we ought to restore control of
environmental regulation to state and local governments. This will save the federal government over
$10 billion in 2013.
Programs to be Eliminated (9): Environmental Justice (EJ) program; Great Lakes Restoration
Initiative (GLRI); Diesel Emission Reduction Program; Airshed Grant Program; Homeland Security
Activities; International Programs; State Revolving Loan Appropriations; SunWise Program
Department of Labor (-$3 billion). Formed with the intention of improving working conditions and
expanding employment opportunities for American workers, the Department of Labor is now a largely
ineffective and often counterproductive bureaucracy of over 17,200 employees. Congress should
immediately defund the job-killing National Labor Relations Board and cut duplicative job training
programs from the Department of Labor. My plan makes cuts at the Department of Labor totaling $3
billion in 2013.
Programs to be Eliminated (2): Workforce Investment Act; Wagner-Peyser Activities
Department of the Treasury (-$5 billion). The Treasury Department budget is mainly devoted to the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Included in this budget are significant tax reforms that will require adramatically reduced role for the IRS, as over two-thirds of the IRSs current budget is listed as
enforcement. Additionally, the exposure and elimination of waste in both the IRS specifically and the
Treasury Department more broadly will improve management of taxpayer dollars.
Miscellaneous (-$50 billion). Some other programs that should receive serious scrutiny, consideration,
or outright elimination, are the Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage laws, freezing federal pay, reducing federal
travel, banning union projects, selling federal assets, reducing the federal workforce, selling vast tracts
of federal lands, reforming payment errors in federal programs, and selling the equity ownership of
automobile and financial institutions. An implementation of these reforms would net the American
taxpayer 50 billion dollars in savings in 2013.
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0.00
100.00
200.00
300.00
400.00
500.00
600.00
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
CutsinBillions($)
Total Discretionary CutsAll Other Discretionary Cuts
Treasury
Labor
Environmental Protection Agency
Agriculture
Transportation
Health and Human Services
Justice
Homeland Security
State and Foreign Aid
Interior
Defense
Commerce
Housing and Urban Development
Energy
Education
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TABLE 3: Discretionary Spending Cuts (in Billions)
Department 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 20222012-2013
Education 107.10 104.96 105.33 71.30 108.24 109.85 112.71 115.33 117.98 121.31 1,074.11
Energy 34.20 33.52 33.64 34.20 34.56 35.08 35.99 36.83 37.67 38.74 354.42Housing andUrbanDevelopment 46.30 45.37 45.54 46.30 46.79 47.49 48.73 49.86 51.00 52.44 479.82
Commerce 9.26 9.07 9.11 9.26 9.36 9.50 9.75 9.97 10.20 10.49 95.96
Defense 100.00 98.00 98.35 100.00 101.07 102.56 105.24 107.68 110.16 113.27 1,036.33
Interior 7.00 6.86 6.88 7.00 7.07 7.18 7.37 7.54 7.71 7.93 72.54State andForeign Aid 20.00 19.60 19.67 20.00 20.21 20.51 21.05 21.54 22.03 22.65 207.27HomelandSecurity 8.00 7.84 7.87 8.00 8.09 8.21 8.42 8.61 8.81 9.06 82.91
Justice 5.00 4.90 4.92 5.00 5.05 5.13 5.26 5.38 5.51 5.66 51.82Health and
Human Services 10.00 9.80 9.84 10.00 10.11 10.26 10.52 10.77 11.02 11.33 103.63Transportation 15.00 14.70 14.75 15.00 15.16 15.38 15.79 16.15 16.52 16.99 155.45
Agriculture 10.00 9.80 9.84 10.00 10.11 10.26 10.52 10.77 11.02 11.33 103.63EnvironmentalProtectionAgency 10.00 9.80 9.84 10.00 10.11 10.26 10.52 10.77 11.02 11.33 103.63
Labor 3.00 2.94 2.95 3.00 3.03 3.08 3.16 3.23 3.30 3.40 31.09
Treasury 5.00 4.90 4.92 5.00 5.05 5.13 5.26 5.38 5.51 5.66 51.82All OtherDiscretionaryCuts 50.00 49.00 49.18 50.00 50.53 51.28 52.62 53.84 55.08 56.64 518.16
Total Cuts 439.86 431.06 432.60 404.06 444.55 451.14 462.91 473.65 484.54 498.23 4,522.60
Add: TransfersfromMandatory*
Medicaid/SCHIPBlock Grants -291.00 -299.73 -308.72 -317.98 -327.52 -337.35 -347.47 -357.89 -368.63 -379.69 -3335.99FoodStamp/ChildNutrition BlockGrants -50.00 -50.00 -50.00 -50.00 -50.00 -50.00 -50.00 -50.00 -50.00 -50.00 -500.00
TotalDiscretionarySavings afterMandatory
Transfers 98.86 81.33 73.88 36.08 67.02 63.79 65.44 65.75 65.91 68.54 686.61
CBO Baseline 1,219.65 1,196.05 1,199.52 1,219.46 1,233.46 1,250.91 1,283.56 1,313.33 1,343.53 1,381.50 12,640.97NewDiscretionaryBudget 1,120.79 1,114.72 1,125.64 1,183.38 1,166.43 1,187.13 1,218.12 1,247.58 1,277.62 1,312.96 11,954.36
*See mandatory savings information in this plan, which includes the transfer of four mandatory programs to the discretionary
budget.
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Keep Our Promises: Entitlement Reforms
While discretionary spending is out of control in America, mandatory spending programs pose the more
serious risk to our economy. According to the National Center for Policy Analysis, Medicare and Social
Security have $107 trillion in unfunded liabilitiespromises made by politicians with no means of paying
for them. Add in Medicaid, which is exploding state budgets and bankrupting the federal government,
and the fiscal calamity facing our country is clear.
Medicare is our most pressing problem, since it faces bankruptcy in the near future. Even by
conservative estimates, Medicare owes $36 trillion more than the program will collect over the next 75
years. Common-sense reforms to Social Security will make sure the program is solvent and available to
future generations. Putting Medicaid on solid financial footing will save money for both the federal
government and the states.
One thing is clear: we cannot keep our promises to seniors without fixing these programs. Fortunately,
reforming these programs will not only save money, but will also provide seniors and low-incomeAmericans with higher quality benefits at a lower cost.
Reforming Medicare: Congressional Health Care for Seniors. During my time working for Sen. Paul, I
had the distinct honor and privilege of working with him to design Medicare reform that provided better
health care for our seniors at a lower cost to them personally. Sen. Paul has announced his intention to
introduce the legislation this month and the savings are expected to be dramatic: $1.6 trillion over 10
years.
Sen. Pauls proposal enrolls all seniors into the same health care plan as their Member of Congress and
other federal employeesthe Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan (FEHBP). Seniors deserve the
best health care in America, not the second rate Medicare system.
Individual seniors will save thousands of dollars out of their pocket each year (up to $3,500), but the
benefits they receive will be more generous. Competition and choice can provide better benefits at a
lower costa win-win scenario for both seniors and taxpayers.
Prominent economist Walton Francis explains, FEHBP has outperformed original Medicare in every
dimension of its performance. It has better benefits, better service, catastrophic limits on what enrollees
must pay, and far better premium cost control.
The Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan provides millions of federal employees and their dependents
a bevy of health care options. The government pays roughly three-quarters of the total costs of
insurance plans chosen by individual beneficiaries based on their needs and preferences.
There are currently over 250 plans participating in FEHBP, including 20 nationwide plans. The Office of
Personnel and Management (OPM) enforces reasonable minimal standards for plans, ensures the health
plans are fiscally solvent, and enforces rules for consumer protection. Furthermore, there are no price
controls, standard benefits, or dictates and mandates placed on doctors and hospitals.
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FEHBP is not, however, an unfettered marketplace. Plans must accept any enrollee, cannot deny
coverage to an individual for any reason, and all individuals within a plan pay the same premium
regardless of their health status or pre-existing conditions.
Sen. Pauls proposal protects seniors without placing new mandates on insurance plans. Moreover, Sen.
Pauls proposal makes it easier for new insurance plans to enter the market to compete for seniors
businesseven allowing employers to continue covering their retirees by accepting the governments
contribution to the plan.
In order to ensure low premiums and prevent plans from cherry-picking patients, Sen. Paul proposes a
new high-risk pool for the highest cost patients within the FEHBP. The federal government reimburses
insurance plans for enrolling the costliest five percent of patients. This arrangement keeps premiums
low while allowing high-risk patients to get the same high-quality health care as every other enrollee
federal employees and seniors alike.
Other important reforms included in this plan are means-testing benefits, requiring high-income seniors
to pay for a greater portion of their health care services, and slowly raising the Medicare retirement age
up to age 70 and indexing it to longevity.
Finally, this proposal forever protects seniors interests by aligning them with self-interested politicians.
Whats good for the goose is good for the gander.
Obamacare Repeal and Health Reform. Obamacare is a disaster for patients, doctors and taxpayers. IT
MUST BE REPEALED IMMEDIATELY.
Unfortunately, few Americans understand we did nothave a free market health care system in America
prior to Obamacare. Through Medicare, Medicaid, and a skewed taxation system for health insurance,
the government dictates greater than 60 percent of health care dollars in this country. Real reform
means fixing Medicare and Medicaid, as my plan proposes, and reforming health care for those under
65.
In particular, we must fix the tax treatment of health care in order to empower individuals to purchase
the health care services that best meet their individual needs. Rather than subsidize large employer-
based health insurance plans, individuals should receive tax benefits for the purchase of health care
services of all kinds, and of their choosing. This can be accomplished through plans like the Cato
Institutes Large HSA idea, which provides a larger tax deduction for health care services much like
Sen. DeMints proposals and the tax credit plans put forward by Congressman Ryan and Senator Coburn.
My Turning the Lights Back On plan fixes the distortions by scrapping the entire tax code and
implementing a flat tax (see the tax reform section).
Reforming the tax code is the most important step, but unleashing the market requires additional
reforms. Individuals should be able to buy health care from any state in the countrywhich is what the
Constitution requires under the enumerated power to regulate commerce between the states.
Furthermore, federal mandates on health insurance companies must be lifted to allow companies to
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innovate. Under the tax plan in my budget, health savings accounts (HSAs) will flourish given their
status as a savings vehicle. Real health reform must include mechanisms like nimble HSAs that allow
individuals to save more of their own money for their health care needs while having more skin in the
game for their health care decisions.
Social Security. Americans live 14 years longer, on average, than when Social Security was first passed
under President Roosevelt. Yet, they retire three years earlierthan they did then. The average
American spends 20 years in retirement, so its no secret why the program is running out of money.
Many reforms are necessary to fix Social Security, but given our debt problems, the most practical
solutions include putting the program on sound financial footing by slowly increasing the retirement
age, limiting benefits to upper-income seniors, and tweaking the formulas that determine the speed at
which Social Security benefits grow.
We find additional savings by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in the Social Security Disability
Insurance (SSDI) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Both programs have
lost their program integrity and are no longer targeted to those most in need. Sen. Tom Coburns Back
in Black Plan details a number of common-sense reforms that restore these programs to their original
intent and limit their outright waste and fraud.
Unleashing the States to Fix Medicaid and Childrens Health Insurance. The Medicaid program is
currently a disaster both in quality of care and in program costs. Why? All of the incentives are
misplaced. States spend money on superfluous or non-essential care in order to get a more generous
federal match. Since every state does it, however, the Medicaid program consumes a larger portion of
both state and federal budgets. In the end, we pay more money for rapidly deteriorating quality of
health care.
Patients on Medicaid cant find a doctor40 percent of physicians wont even accept a Medicaid
patient. Theres plenty of evidence to suggest Medicaid patients suffer worse outcomes than those who
have no health insurance at all. Something needs to change if we are to effectively and efficiently care
for those in need.
The solution is to unfetter states from all the strings attached to federal funding, and tailor Medicaid
programs best meets the needs ofthe states citizens. Medicaid block grants prove the best means of
accomplishing this.
At present, Medicaid spending grows exponentially year-to-year. My proposal transfers Medicaid
spending from mandatory spending to the discretionary budget, and projects total Medicaid spending to
grow by a fixed rate each year.
Some will argue that this will lead to less accessibility to health care for poor and disabled Americans.
This is patently false. Medicaid costs are increasing dramatically because of the federal dictates coming
from Washington, D.C. My proposal allows states to re-determine eligibility so they can focus benefits
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on those most in need, means-test benefits in such a way to provide more assistance to those most in
need (and less assistance to those who need less help), and tailor services to focus on the most pressing
health care needs of their states citizens.
Allowing States to Control Food Stamps and Child Nutrition. The Food Stamp program is out of control,
with more than 40 million Americans on the rolls. The Child Nutrition program is experiencing similar
increases in spending. We can consolidate these programs into a single low-income nutrition program
run by the states. With the financial flexibility to target these programs to those most in need, states
can do a lot more with less. We can save $50 billion per year by block-granting these programs as
discretionary spending.
Table 2: Mandatory Savings (in billions)
Mandatory Savings
Medicare 143 154 156 151 169 160 14 174 183 192 1630
Social Security 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.7 1.8 2 2.1 2.1 2.5 17.5
UnemploymentInsuranceReform 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 180
TANF/WelfareReform 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 14
*Medicaid 281 330 370 407 432 456 487 522 564 605 4453
*SCHIP 10 11 12 11 6 6 6 6 6 6 78
**Food Stamps 82 80 80 80 78 77 75 74 73 73 772
**ChildNutrition 21 22 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 247Savings on
Interest 105 112 118 123 129 131 134 144 153 162 1316
TOTAL 555.82 617.107 660.555 691.884 730.186 743.507 765.022 824.553 876.305 926.549 7391.488*Medicaid is transferred to Discretionary Spending to better budget for the needs of the program. Total Savings for Medicaid/SCHIP are
$1.1 trillion.
**The Food Stamps and Child Nutrition programs are consolidated into a single program and transferred to Discretionary Spending tobetter budget for the needs of the programs. Total Savings are $$519 billion
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Grow the Economy: Tax and Regulatory Reform
Taxes. Our current tax code is unacceptable. It discourages productive activity, savings, and investment.
Our tax system distorts the free enterprise system and encourages the misallocation of capital. The
average American cannot possibly grapple with U.S. tax code without hiring an expensive tax attorney.
The best solution is to follow a tried and true tax structure implemented with great success by dozens of
countries worldwide: a flat tax only on income for consumption. The new tax rate would replace the
payroll tax, death tax, capital gains tax and gift tax. Under my plan, all individuals, families and
businesses would be taxed at the low, flat rate of 17 percent.
My flat tax only taxes individual income for consumptionwhich means long-term savings like
retirement plans are not taxed until the money is withdrawn for consumption. For businesses, only
profits are taxedincome used to invest in the business or compensate employees is exempt.
Senators Rand Paul, Jim DeMint and Mike Lee recently unveiled a plan like mine to save our country.
The tax reform I pursue is identical to their proposed flat tax. They include a standard deduction of
$32,320 for each family and personal exemptions of $6,530 for each dependent. After the deduction, all
income is taxed at the flat rate of 17 percent. Thus, the tax code remains progressive despite the flat
rate and elimination of tax brackets.
Freeing American individuals and businesses from double, triple and even quadruple taxation is the pro-
growth tax policy our economy needs. Statically scored, it produces less revenue than the current tax
code$4.5 billion in total tax cutsbut is paid for by the massive spending cuts in my plan. In reality,
however, lowering rates and creating a more pro-growth economic climate will likely lead to more
revenue to the federal government by broadening the number of individuals participating in the
economy and paying taxes.
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Regulations. This plan immediately repeals onerous regulations by repealing the underlying statutes of
Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, Sarbanes-Oxley, and the new FDA Food Safety Regulations. My plan also
includes a full repeal of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In addition, my plan enacts
procedural reforms to prevent unelected bureaucrats from circumventing Congress to put in place new
regulations. Furthermore, my plan calls for Congressional review of any costly regulation, patterned
after the regulatory reform detailed in Sen. Rand Pauls recent budget plan .
My plan also prevents the Federal Reserve from regulating our money supply without accountability.
What is more, I propose a full audit of the Federal Reserve Bank and the legalization of the use of gold
and silver as alternative currencies. These reforms will keep the Federal Reserve in check and ensure
sound money.
This plan does notinclude savings or additional revenue to the federal government as the result of less
regulation and sound currency, but there is an expectation that both the federal government and the
private sector will realize massive savings and increases in revenue as government shrinks and the
economy grows.
$-
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
$5,000
$6,000
I
n
B
i
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l
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o
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s
(
$)
Revenue Comparison
CBO Revenues
TLBO Revenues
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2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
5,000
5,500
6,000
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
(In $billions)
Budget Comparison: CBO v. TLBO
CBO Revenues
CBO Outlays
TLBO Revenues
TLBO Outlays
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Conclusion: The Shining City on a Hill
Americans are ready to replace career politicians who do not have the courage or the conviction to put
our country on a path to fiscal prosperity. They are ready to replace elected officials who put their next
election before the next generation. The American people are rallying around candidates who provide
honest solutions to our countrys fiscal woes.
Nothing short of returning to our founding principles of limited government, pro-growth economics, and
honest governance will fix our countrys problems:. These are the ideas America is built on, and as I
listen to the people of Western Pennsylvania, these are the ideas I must stand on.
Many pundits and political opponents will attempt to pick apart my plan. My question to them is
simple: where is theirplan to save our country?
Our country can remain the bright shining city on a hill it has always been. It will require hard work and
honesty from our politicians. I have faith the American people will elect the best people to right the
ship. Our future demands it.