|
Mail
Magazine 24…
Heritage
Foundation “Cut Government Spending”
Goal Gains Ground
by David S. Addington
As
the public debate swirls over whether and
how to limit the size and cost of the federal government, The Heritage
Foundation’s
longstanding efforts to shrink the government gain ground.
In
May 2010, Heritage published Saving the
American Dream: The Heritage Plan to Fix the Debt, Cut Spending, and
Restore
Prosperity. The Heritage plan proposes to balance the federal budget
within a
decade and keep it balanced forever at no more than 18.5 percent of the
total
output of the American economy in goods and services in a single year,
called
gross domestic product (GDP). The government currently spends over 23
percent
of GDP — which means that government is nearly a quarter of the
depressed
American economy.
The
delegates to the Republican National
Convention in Tampa, Florida, recently adopted a platform for their
party
noting that the federal government is “financially broken” and calling
for
“cutting spending” and “balancing the budget.” Congressman Paul Ryan
(R-WI),
addressing those delegates on August 29, 2012, said that “we will keep
federal
spending at 20 percent of GDP, or less.” Previously, President Obama
noted, disparagingly,
on June 4, that the Republican Party believes that “we have to
drastically
shrink government.”
For
decades, Heritage has encouraged the public
to focus on the importance of limited government in maintaining our
liberty.
The current public debate may well bring about a healthy, sharp focus
on
whether and how to reduce the size and cost of the federal government.
The
public debate reflects progress toward the
key Heritage fiscal objective: to drive down federal spending toward a
balanced
budget not to exceed 18.5 percent of GDP without raising taxes, while
maintaining a strong national defense.
As
it has for the past two years, so too in the
coming years, Heritage will continue to fight for Saving the American
Dream.
The plan advances the principles of limited government, free
enterprise,
individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national
defense.
With national attention now focused on reducing the size of the
government
relative to the size of the economy — that is, shrinking the size and
cost of
government — key Heritage ideas are on the march.
Source:
blog.heritage.org
Read
this and other articles at Mail Magazine
24
|
