Tea Party Debt Commission to Present Findings in Joint House-Senate Hearing
WHAT: As the Obama “super-committee” struggles to slim down the deficit, the Tea Party Debt Commission and about 200 leading tea party activists from around the country will present their final report in a joint House-Senate hearing in the Russell Senate Office building. The “Tea Party Budget” is a plan to balance the federal budget in less than 10 years, reduce federal spending to 18 percent of GDP, reduce the national debt to no more than 66 percent of GDP, reduce federal spending by at least $9 trillion over 10 years, all without raising taxes.
This hearing will serve as the tea party’s response to the super-committee’s likely disappointing findings, and negate the Establishment narrative that tea partiers can’t identify specific cuts to the budget. Tea party leaders around the country know that Washington can do better, and plan to release materials documenting exactly what cuts can -and should- be made to preserve America’s economic future.
The Tea Party Debt Commission consists of twelve members, paralleling the structure of the “super-committee.” Committee members are volunteer tea party activists from a variety of states across the country, including CO, CT, IN, NH, NV, NY, OH, PA, UT, and VA. The Commission began its grassroots outreach with a crowd-sourced online poll allowing voters to prioritize spending cuts, which has been completed by nearly 50,000 Americans to-date. Field hearings were held around the country with hundreds of local activists in attendance, including Salt Lake City, UT; Philadelphia, PA; Orlando, FL; Louisville, KY; Cincinnati, OH; Columbia, SC; and Indianapolis, IN.
WHEN: Thursday, November 17th from 2-4pm ET. Commissioners will testify for approximately 30 minutes, followed by Q&A from legislators. The format will be a traditional congressional hearing with Representatives and Senators.
WHERE: Hearing Room 325 in the Senate Russell Office Building, Washington, DC. Follow the whole day’s events on Twitter at #TPDC.
WHY: As part of the debt ceiling deal with the Obama administration, Congress abandoned its budget responsibilities to a “super-committee,” shutting American taxpayers out of the discussion on how to reduce spending and balance the budget in the process. To give Americans a platform to be heard, FreedomWorks and dozens of local tea party groups across the country launched the Tea Party Debt Commission, a committee of volunteer grassroots leaders tasked with proposing specific cuts to the federal budget.
“We are presenting the Tea Party Budget on Thursday to show Washington that there is a strong, grassroots constituency to support bold budgetary reform,” commented Matt Kibbe, President of FreedomWorks. “Americans are sick of watching the grid-lock between both political parties in Washington. If they can’t come up with a solid plan to reduce the deficit and protect our economic future, then we will.”
