Posted on 01/28/2010 12:35:50 PM PST by IbJensen
Washington (CNSNews.com) – Sen. Judd Gregg, the Budget Committee’s ranking Republican, told CNSNews.com that eliminating some federal agencies to reduce spending – with the goal of balancing the budget -- is a “great idea.”
“I haven’t had anybody propose that, but since I left Commerce it sounds like a great idea,” Gregg told CNSNews.com Wednesday. The New Hampshire Republican first accepted, then declined President Obama’s request to head the Commerce Department.
CNSNews.com asked Sen. Gregg, “Do you support cutting down federal spending by $6 trillion over the next decade to bring the budget into balance?” The Congressional Budget Office projects that based on current budget trends, the national debt will increase by $6 trillion over the next ten years.
“Well, you’re going have to reduce the rate of growth of the federal government,” Gregg told CNSNews.com. “You’re going to have to increase the activity in the economy to get the revenues back up, but yes, you’ve got to control spending -- that’s the bottom line.”
“We’re spending too much money,” Gregg continued. “We’ve taken the size of the government -- 20 percent of GDP, up to 25 percent of GDP -- just in a year, and we simply can’t sustain a government that’s 25 percent of GDP.”
According to the CBO projections released this week, if current federal and spending laws are maintained, the public will hold an estimated $15 trillion in debt by the end of 2020. That amounts to an approximately $6 trillion increase over the next decade from the approximately $8.8 trillion that the American people are expected to owe by the end of 2010.
The multi-trillion-dollar increase in debt will result in significantly higher interest payments on what is owed. “With such a large increase in debt, plus an expected increase in interest rates as the economic recovery strengthens, interest payments on the debt are poised to skyrocket,” CBO said.
According to the CBO, the government’s annual spending on net interest will more than triple between 2010 and 2020, from $207 billion to $723 billion, and it will more than double as a share of GDP, from 1.4 percent to 3.2 percent.
In its economic forecast, the CBO notes that the large projected increase in the national debt is a direct result of “accumulating deficits.”
“Under current law, the federal fiscal outlook beyond this year is daunting,” CBO said, adding that projected budget deficits will average about $600 billion a year over the 2011–2020 period.
The CBO forecast shows that President Obama’s first two years in office will be marked by the two biggest deficits since World War II. “Last year’s deficit was the largest as a share of GDP since the end of World War II, and the deficit expected for 2010 would be the second largest,” the CBO said.
“The Congressional Budget Office projects that if current laws and policies remain unchanged, the federal budget would show a deficit of $1.35 trillion for fiscal year 2010,” the CBO report said. “At 9.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), that deficit would be slightly smaller than the shortfall of 9.9 percent of GDP posted in 2009.”
According to the CBO, the 2009 federal deficit was also the largest in dollar terms. “The budget deficit surged to $1.4 trillion in 2009, the largest shortfall on record in dollar terms and nearly $1 trillion greater than the deficit recorded the previous year,” said CBO.
2. Close EPA, DOE, ED, Commerce and Interior Depts. that over regulate and stifle business activity.
3. Term Limits - House (3 Terms) Senate (2 terms), minimizes pensions, limits earmarks and forces politicians to return to the private sector.
4. Return FDMC and FNMA to private control (No more political slush fund loans and sweetheart deals)
5. Return Stimulus money to taxpayers. This is a good start to fiscally sound and Constitutional government practices and will promote public trust.
Shouldn't take too long to do... as the constitution is well under 2074 pages (weighs in at about 14 pages, depending on spacing used).
Better than imposing term limits on senators, just repeal the 17th amendment and let the state legislatures decide who should represent the interests of the state.
Return Stimulus money to taxpayers.
even if he returns the money to people who don’t pay taxes, it is money that won’t be spent by govt
I recall of working for a federal agency called the Economic Development Adminstration way back when I was attending college in the late 60s/early 70s. It was an LBJ legacy created to assist selectively disadvantaged communities.
40 years ago when I worked there, it seemed already that it had outlived its usefulness.
Guess what? It’s still aroung sucking up your taxpayer dollars, with no end in sight.
Killing off some agencies like this is a great idea.
Maybe we can get some to run on this platform in November.
Hussein figured Gregg would be dumb enough to vacate his senate seat, leaving it open to a dem! And he was very nearly right! Gregg was almost that dumb.
15 trillion in debt by 2020 sounds like a GROSS understatement by simply looking at how big the dept is now, and how quickly its growing. I think we could be looking at 15 trillion within a few years not 10.
Of course if we uses normal accounting such as is required of all private businesses your looking at something around 50 trillion in dept.
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