Dear Members of the House Budget Committee,
On behalf of the undersigned organizations who represent the interests of taxpayers, consumers and families across the country, we urge you to support H.R. 5779, the Fiscal Commission Act of 2023, introduced by Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) and Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA), a bipartisan and bicameral bill that would establish a commission to address the nation’s unsustainable debt and fiscal challenges.
The U.S. national public debt is around 100% of GDP, the highest level since World War II. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that without substantial changes, the debt will rise to nearly 200% of GDP by 2053. This alarming trajectory poses serious risks to our economy and our national security. The CBO also projects that by 2033, net interest payments on this debt will exceed nondefense discretionary spending at over $1.4 trillion per year.
A bipartisan and bicameral panel would provide the space and structure for lawmakers to comprehensively review the entire budget and recommend a balanced set of spending and revenue reforms that improve the fiscal outlook of the United States. The commission would consist of 16 members, appointed by congressional leadership, with equal representation from both parties. The commission would have a mandate to identify policies to achieve a sustainable debt-to-GDP ratio over the long term, and to improve the solvency of federal trust funds such as Social Security and Medicare. The commission would report its recommendations to Congress, and Congress would be required to consider them under expedited procedures.
We believe that this approach is needed today to tackle the growing debt and fiscal deficits that threaten our economic future and national security. We recognize that this will require difficult choices and compromises from both sides of the aisle, but we also believe that this is a critically important way to achieve a fair and lasting solution that serves the common good of the American people.
We strongly urge you to support the Fiscal Commission Act of 2023 and to work together to put our nation on a more sustainable fiscal path well into the future.
Sincerely,
Bob Carlstrom – President, AMAC Action
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I have my doubts as to why we need another commission to control the clowns that spend our money like drunken sailors. Why not hold them responsible and throw them out of office? Then replace them with sober, conservative, and honest people who love America and want to do what’s right.
We don’t need a fiscal commission. We already have a group to do this work. It’s called Congress. If they can’t or won’t do what they are elected to do, then they should resign and let others in who will. This commission is just a way to avoid responsibility for the results.
Linder, I’m with you . . . we need Congress held accountable. When families overspend, they’re evicted, go without food, etc. There needs to be a consequence to Congressmen who do not spend within a reasonable budget.
OK AMAC, next tackle: Govt Waste & Fraud , see CAGW.org
Well, the “Members of the House Budget Committee” can be found at this link. I guess we mail letters to them?
https: //budget.house.gov/about/members/
Pass an ammendment whereby no bill could be passed without also including a means for financing it.
Linder has the right idea, but it won’t work as long as the vast majority of the voters are hooked on socialism. Socialism is fun and addictive. Spending someone else’s money. You elect a good fiscal conservative who votes to NOT bring legalized plunder (taxpayers’ money and inflation) back to his home district and he will get voted out when his constituents watch other districts getting “free” money. I’ll bet everyone reading this kept and spent the “free” covid checks sent to us by the benevolent congressional spenders. I didn’t; I gave them to a great conservative organization fighting this problem. We have to change the hearts and minds of the voters so we can elect and KEEP a good congressman in office. It’s a moral problem first and a political problem second.
This is a start, but will it go anywhere and fix the problem? I have my doubts.
call me the biggest cynic on earth but what’s to stop this commission from recommending only astronomical tax hikes and no spending cuts? Congress in general (and democrats in particular) have never met a spending program they didn’t like and they’re in denial over the fact we cannot afford to keep spending like drunken sailors and they think we can afford to keep paying higher and higher taxes and borrowing more and more money. They are also in denial over the fact that raising taxes on only the rich will NOT get them the money the government wants because (contrary to their delusional, out-of-touch thinking) they aren’t enough rich people to pay for everything they want to do, and (no to give the democrats any ideas) even if they take every penny the rich make, it still will NOT be enough to fund the programs the democrats want to put in place. Therefore the government needs to CUT SPENDING.
I think it’s a good start but as others have pointed out, until Congress is held accountable it will probably go nowhere.
I believe we need a nationally elected (in off years) CFO. The Constitutional amendment that authorizes their position would give them the authority and mandate to veto tax and spending bills that aren’t fiscally sound. The trick would be to get a good definition of fiscally sound into the wording of the amendment.
This creates a position whose sole job is to hold Congress responsible — then the voters hold the CFO responsible for doing their job. It’s quite clear that we can’t count on voters to hold Congress directly responsible because Congress can buy them off by voting for goodies the voters want. By creating this separate vote in non-Presidential years (and preferably in non-Congressional years, i.e. 1 year after the Presidential election), it would focus the voter’s to think about the country’s fiscal state instead of everything else that comes up in normal elections.
Vivek Ramaswamy had proposed a zero-based budget concept, where every program must justify its funding. It would take a large amount of testosterone to accomplish this concept. A bipartisan commission – NO!
We’re well beyond the need for a commission now, although this is a decent idea in principle. But we don’t neee another commission, we need immediate and meaningful action. Elimite the government bureaucracy, reduce the tax rate and flatten to apply to all taxpayers, privatize entitlements for those younger than 40 and get government out of higher education and student loans are a start, but there’s so much else to be done. We know what needs to happen, but we need elected officials with the backbone to do it.
This might start out as a bipartisan panel but in the end it will be a unilateral dem decision. Throw them out of office first and then make up a bilateral commission. More will be reached since they act that they are afraid of Trump. Of course that is just a scare tactic to their voters. They are not afraid of us. They are afraid they will be incarcerated for what they have done to this country. And they should be.
Too bad everybody can’t just stop paying taxes. Smart government that deducts it from earnings and makes us get some back from them!
It sounds great, but why 16 on the panel? Like everything else, the more people that are involved in decisions, the more conflict and less work gets done.
Who would pay for this? Are we then just making government even bigger?
Now that I print the letter of support who do I send it to?