UPDATE: USA TODAY has an outstanding summary of our Government's Debt. Read It Here.
UPDATE: Blackburn Takes On "Mediscare" Tactics. Watch Below:
America is facing a financial crisis driven by spending and debt. To get us back on track, Congress will have to enact serious spending cuts in the short and the long term. We will also have to reform America's entitlement programs.
There will be a series of legislative vehicles to bring spending under control and address entitlements. As they move through Congress, please consider this page your tool kit and keep checking back for updates.
Each vehicle has its own limits and benefits. Some can only deal with discretionary spending while others are limited to spending in the current year. This document is a good summary of where we are and the initial opportunities we have to get back on track.
We have already made a start, by passing H.R. 1, which cut $61 billion from spending for the rest of the fiscal year. Democrats in the Senate rejected H.R. 1, so in order to keep the government running, we have passed the bill in sections, cutting funding bit by bit. Most recently, House Republicans negotiated a compromise bill that would cut a total of $38.5 billion from 2010 spending levels and over $100 billion from the President's 2011 budget requests. You can read the specific cuts both to the 2010 real spending level and the 2011 Presidential spending request here.
FY 2012 Budget: The Path To Prosperity
On April 6, 2011, Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan introduced a bold plan to get our country back on track. For up to the minute information on the FY2012 Budget, keep checking here at the Budget Committee's Website. Ryan's Path To Prosperity cuts $6.2 trillion in spending from the president's budget over the next 10 years, reduces the debt as a percentage of the economy, and puts America on a path to actually pay off our national debt. The Plan for Prosperity proposal brings federal spending to below 20% of gross domestic product (GDP), consistent with the postwar average, and reduces deficits by $4.4 trillion. For more details of the proposal, check out this column Ryan submitted to the Wall Street Journal. To get an idea of how bold this plan really is, be sure to read this piece by David Brooks in the New York Times, or just take a look at the plan in Ryan's own words here:
