Back to Basics: A Fiscal Year 2015 Budget
The RSC’s FY 2015 budget balances in four years, repeals the entirety of Obamacare and outlines an alternative vision for health care in The American Health Care Reform Act, and calls for enactment of the RSC's JOBS Act. Specifically, this proposal:
BALANCES IN FOUR YEARS:
The proposal balances the federal budget in 2018, bringing spending down to an average of 18.1 percent of GDP while limiting average revenue to 18.1 percent of GDP, close to the historical average
REDUCES SPENDING: Freezes discretionary spending at $950 billion, the pre-2008 spending levels, starting in FY2015 until the federal budget is balanced.
REESTABLISHES OUR NATIONAL DEFENSE: Secures our Nation’s defense by growing our military funding from $521 billion in FY2015 to $696 billion in FY2024, the same level as the House Republican budget.
REPEALS AND REPLACES OBAMACARE: Repeals Obamacare to eliminate $2.1 trillion in additional spending over ten years. Implements real patient-centered healthcare reform that would lower costs and improve access with the RSC’s American Health Care Reform Act.
SAVES MEDICARE FROM BANKRUPTCY: The RSC believes we should save Medicare from bankruptcy by transitioning to a solvent premium-support system, as passed in previous House Republican Budgets. This preserves traditional Medicare for current seniors and future seniors in 2019 and beyond will enjoy the reduced costs, increased choice, and quality care provided by this reform. In order to shore up Medicare’s solvency and to keep pace with increases in longevity, the RSC proposal embraces Ronald Reagan’s Social Security reform by slowly phasing in an increase in the Medicare eligibility age at a rate of two months per year, beginning in 2024, until it reaches 67.
REFORMS MEDICAID: This budget empowers the states with flexibility to determine the Medicaid eligibility and benefits, encouraging innovation that will improve the quality of care and access to vital services for the neediest and most vulnerable Americans.
SAFEGUARDS SOCIAL SECURITY AND DISABILITY INSURANCE: This budget would slowly phase in an increase in the Social Security full-retirement age. The full retirement age would continue the current-law’s gradual increase of two months per year beginning in 2022 until the full retirement age reaches 70. To further strengthen Social Security’s long-term finances, this budget would change the formula for cost of living adjustments (COLA) by adopting a more accurate measure of inflation (chained CPI-U) that takes into account real-world choices consumers make. Recognizing that Disability Insurance is projected to go bankrupt in 2016, this budget adopts bold reforms proven to pull people out of poverty, including the promotion of work, updating eligibility rules, fighting fraud and abuse, and ending double dipping in both unemployment and disability insurance that robs billions from hard-working taxpayers.
ENACTS PRO-GROWTH TAX REFORM: This budget proposes a smarter tax code that is revenue neutral on a dynamic basis, promotes economic growth, and is simpler, flatter, and fairer.
Specifically, this proposal is based upon the following common-sense principles regarding budgets:
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Balance in ten years or less without raising any taxes.
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Repeal and replace President Obama’s job-killing healthcare law.
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Strengthen Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and Disability Insurance to ensure their long-term sustainability.
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Reduce deficit spending and other government impediments to job creation.
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Terminate federal programs that are unconstitutional, duplicative, or harmful.
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Make our tax code simpler, fairer, and promote growth.
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Preserve and expand successful welfare reforms.
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Implement reforms to Washington’s broken budget process.
