Key Vote YES on Paul, Toomey and Ryan Budgets

  • By: FW Staff
  • 05/25/2011

Dear FreedomWorks member,

As one of our million-plus FreedomWorks members nationwide, I’m writing to let you know we may count your Senators vote on three 2012 Republican budget proposals that the Senate may be voted on soon. It’s been 756 days since the Democrat-controlled Senate last passed a budget. By not doing so, Senate Democrat leadership and Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) have failed to complete their fundamental responsibility. Congress must pass a long-term budget that restores economic certainty and reduces federal spending.

Sen. Paul (R-KY) has the strongest budget proposal S.Con.Res.20 that would balance the budget within five years. Unlike the other budget proposals, it eliminates departments such as the Department of Commerce, Department of Education, Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Energy. It reduces federal spending by nearly $4 trillion relative to the President Obama’s budget and achieves a $19 billion surplus by FY2016. The proposal would reform entitlement programs by block granting Medicaid, SCHIP and food stamps to the states. His plan would save $10.2 trillion over the next decade.

Sen. Toomey (R-PA) has introduced a budget proposal S.Con.Res.21 which would balance the entire federal budget within nine years without raising taxes. It reduces the publicly held debt to approximately 52 percent of GDP by 2021 and cuts spending to 18.5 percent of GDP. Unlike President Obama’s budget, it reforms entitlement programs by block granting Medicaid to individual states. His plan would save $7.1 trillion over the next decade.

Rep. Ryan (R-WI) has introduced a budget proposal H.Con.Res.34 that would balance the federal budget by 2040 without raising taxes. It has already passed the House of Representatives by a fairly wide margin. It would cut $6.2 trillion over the next decade compared to President Obama’s budget. The plan reduces government spending to below 20 percent of the economy and block grants Medicaid to the states. His plan would save $5.8 trillion over the next decade. It’s important to note that all three budget proposals have different economic growth rate assumptions which affects revenue and deficit assumptions. President Obama’s aggressive economic growth rate assumptions and tax hikes obscure how much bigger his deficits would be compared to the Republican budgets.

We may count your Senators vote on Paul, Toomey and Ryan budgets when calculating the FreedomWorks Economic Freedom Scorecard for 2011. The Economic Freedom Scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the Jefferson Award, which recognizes members of Congress with voting records that support economic freedom.

Sincerely,

Matt Kibbe
President and CEO
FreedomWorks
[Click here for a PDF version of this letter.]

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