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In this briefing

Restoring Fiscal
Responsibility

Balanced Budget
Amendment

Tax Code Reform
Budget Process Reform

Congress and the
Federal Budget

Two Types of Spending
Appropriations Process

I urge Americans to join with me in calling on Congress to put fiscal responsibility into law — and to make the tough choices necessary to safeguard our future and that of our children.

• "Calm Before the Storm"

Fiscal responsibility means making ends meet

American families understand that they shouldn't spend more than they earn. They must live within their means, and so should the federal government. For the federal government, just like for families, borrowing money delays the honoring of obligations. It also compounds the amount owed and the cost of interest payments. Over time, the government will pass these obligations on to future generations in the form of higher taxes to pay ever-mounting interest on that debt.

What can be done? We must make a permanent commitment to the moral imperative of fiscal responsibility.

The federal government's spending momentum makes tax cuts, reductions in pork, and slashes in subsidies only first steps toward a real solution to our current fiscal crisis. The only long-term, fundamental, permanent reform that would effectively dispel the danger of current fiscal recklessness and restore fiscal responsibility is three-pronged:

  1. a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution;
  2. tax code reform;
  3. and budget process reform.


1. Balanced Budget Amendment

We must not simply reduce the deficit, but eliminate it. We must not amend the tax code, but replace it. And we must not talk about limiting spending, but legally cap it.

• "Introducing the Balanced Budget Amendment,"
a Senate Floor statement by Larry Craig, January 4, 2007

A critical issue now facing Congress is how to balance desired increases in valuable programs with the need to maintain overall fiscal responsibility. To guarantee Social Security, pay down the public debt, and provide for other national priorities, it is absolutely necessary to continue balancing the budget. Over time, consistent discipline in government spending actually means improved support for beneficial programs. To ensure Congress achieves these goals, I have introduced the Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution.

I have championed the Balanced Budget Amendment as long as I have represented Idaho in Congress. During that time it received a number of votes. In 1997 it even came within one vote of the required two-thirds to send it to the states for ratification. It is my hope that the time is now to ratify this amendment.

For the Record:
S.J.Res. 1
The Balanced Budget Amendment

2. Tax Code Reform

The tax code's purpose is simply to fund the federal government—but we've turned it into a system loaded with preferences, deductions, credits, exemptions, and other loopholes that cater to special interests and fail to treat all taxpayers fairly. When Americans file their returns, they should do so under a code that does not discriminate against them based on their income, the type of car they drive, or whether they own a home.

• "Slaying the Monster,"
an editorial by Larry Craig, December 7, 2006

For the Record:
S. 1040
Tax Simplification Act of 2007

3. Budget Process Reform: Stop Over Spending

Bloated federal budgets, unfortunately, are nothing new, and it is this decades-old addiction to spending that has landed us in the position we are in today.

• "Who's Responsible for Responsible Government,"
an editorial by Larry Craig

Thomas Jefferson once described a republican form of government as "slow to move, yet once in motion, its momentum becomes irresistible." Congress' momentum toward expanding spending and government has been a source of considerable frustration for fiscal conservatives, including myself.

Federal spending has increased faster than the national income in five of the past six years. This represents a 10.2 percent increase in the federal spending burden on American workers since 2000, and a 9 percent increase in overall spending for 2006. In 2005 alone, Congress spent $2.470 trillion.

Two-thirds of the federal budget is entitlement programs whose spending is driven by the number of people eligible for the program, not Congress' budget process.

For the Record:
Review materials from a series of Town Hall Meetings I held in Meridian, Pocatello, and Twin Falls, in February, 2007 to discuss our nation's long-term economic security.
S. 15
The Stop Over Spending Act of 2007

Congress and the federal budget

No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law....

The Constitution of the United States

With this clause, the US Constitution lists one of the powers and responsibilities delegated to the US Congress—the creation of a federal budget. The Congressional budget process starts every year with the President's submission of a detailed, recommended budget by the first Monday in February. Before Congress appropriates one dollar, it passes a Budget Resolution which sets the overall funding amounts for the federal government. Appropriations must fit within the overall budget numbers set in the Budget Resolution.

Two types of congressional spending

Mandatory
About two-thirds of the entire federal budget is made up of what
budget laws call "mandatory" spending — payments that occur
automatically, under formulas
enacted in the past in "permanent"
appropriations, like Social Security
and Medicare benefits, some (but
not all) veterans, farm, and
poverty programs, and paying
interest on the national debt.

Discretionary
The remaining one-third has to
be written every year into several
"regular" Appropriations bills. The
government functions provided for
in these bills include such diverse
activities as defense and homeland
security, law enforcement,
education, many Older Americans programs, transportation,
management of public lands, medical and other scientific
research, disaster response, and administrative expenses.



Online Resources:

The Appropriations Process

Subcommittees     

Serving on these Appropriations subcommittees allows me to focus on issues Idahoans care about most and guide funding based on those priorities:

  • Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies
  • Energy and Water Development
  • Interior and Related Agencies, Ranking Member
  • Homeland Security
  • Labor, HHS, and Education
  • Military Construction and Veterans Affairs

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee since 1997, I have retained, first and foremost, my commitment to fiscal responsibility, balanced budgets, and limited government — a philosophy shared by Idaho's citizens.

Within the limitations of a fiscally responsible budget, I will fight for Idaho priorities including projects to:

  • spur economic development,
  • renovate hospitals,
  • improve community drinking water systems,
  • create or expand areas of study at colleges and universities, and
  • assist non-profit charitable institutions in their various missions.

Learn more about
fiscally responsible federal funding for the Gem State
in my report on Idaho Initiatives.


Under the Ethics Reform legislation that was enacted in 2007, all critical needs projects now must list the Member of Congress who sponsored them. I have long believed that a critical part of government is transparency, and I am pleased to see that all Members of Congress are now being held to the same high standards I have always held. It is part of my commitment to honesty and openness in government.