Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute focuses in his latest National Review Online column on the steps policymakers should take to bring federal revenue and spending totals into balance.
It is important to understand that a compromise doesn’t require new taxes. According to the Congressional Budget Office, revenues will return to their historic average without any new tax hikes. And, between the new taxes in Obamacare and the fiscal-cliff deal last December, Democrats have already pushed through more than $2.8 trillion in new taxes over the next ten years. The basis for any budget compromise must come on the spending side.
And there’s reason to believe that this can be done. Over the last few years, both Democrats and Republicans have suggested ways to cut spending, only to be blocked by the other party. Now, however, is the time for both parties to cut programs even if they are championed by special interests in their parties. There can be no more “sacred cows.”
To show how this could be done, scholars at the Cato Institute have put together a plan that balances the budget without tax increases and reduces our dangerously high debt burden, by cutting $3 trillion over the next ten years. It builds on good ideas from both Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, to expand individual freedom and reduce the burden of government.
Among Tanner’s ideas: cutting corporate welfare, increasing privatization, and trimming the intelligence budget.
