Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 06/11/2025 7:01:25 AM PDT by george76
The U.S. government has been running budget deficits for years — consistently spending more than it collects. And while neither party has managed to rein in the red ink, legendary investor Warren Buffett once offered a surprisingly simple fix.
...
"I could end the deficit in five minutes,” Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick in a 2011 interview. “You just pass a law that says that any time there's a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.”
Now, that old clip is going viral again — and it's gaining fresh support in high places.
...
Utah Senator Mike Lee .. I’m drafting a constitutional amendment to oust every member of Congress whenever inflation exceeds 3%. It’s better to disqualify politicians than for an entire nation to suffer under the yoke of inflation,”
...
Economists have long noted a connection between excessive government spending and inflation. The late Nobel Prize–winning economist Milton Friedman once famously said, “What produces [inflation] is too much government spending and too much government creation of money and nothing else,” adding, “Only Washington can create money.”
But enshrining that accountability into law — especially one that threatens every member of Congress with job loss — is a heavy lift.
...
Buffett’s threshold was a deficit of more than 3% of GDP. In fiscal 2024, the U.S. economy generated $28.83 trillion in GDP, while the federal government spent $6.75 trillion and collected $4.92 trillion in revenue. That left a $1.83 trillion deficit — or 6.3% of GDP.
By Buffett’s rule, every sitting member of Congress would be out
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
I think this has merit. There’s no link to outcomes for Congress. Since the ballot box has been gamed, there is no fear or accountability for elected officials.
That’s the other thing that has to happen. Election Day Integrity and voting on paper ballots.
“My name is DC, and I approve this message.”
I like it... :)
The best way to end deficits is to transfer responsibility for entitlements from the federal to state governments, because state’s cannot run long-term deficits.
Just go back to 2019 spending, and we’ve balanced the budget.
Even a Republican controlled Congress wouldn’t pass such a law. It makes perfect sense but I just don’t see anyone passing it. It would DESTROY the D platform, based on ‘free stuff’, and there’s too few R’s that would want the additional accountability...clearly they’re fine with continuous debt.
It’s not realistic to transfer Social Security and Medicare to the states - they are funded by Federal taxes, and they’re currently the biggest part of the Federal budget.
This may be asking to much, accountability from Congress??
You could not begin to imagine the legalistic gymnastics that will be performed to get around that.
It is why Gramm-Rudman is a dead letter.
Love it!
Well, that and fact that Republicans are just not into “bold ideas”. But unfortunately, the Democrats are.
You can’t really trust elections anymore. You can trust your wallet. I like this. They do a lousy job, they automatically get thrown out, perhaps after one chastisement. Time was, grifter politicians were tarred, feathered, and ridden out of town on a rail. For too long, the only consequence for grifter politicians was to “vote them out”. There needs to be a way these people and organizations can be effectively dealt with.
73% of the budget is social welfare spending. This includes the sacred monthly check. Budget balancing requires cutting the 73% since the 27% doesn’t have enough room for cutting. Yeah I know cut the fraud and waste. But Trump just asked Congress for a grand total of $9 billion in cuts based mostly on DOGE.
It’s a laughable amount. Just a token. Either Trump or Republicans wish to cut spending.
The US won’t quit spending and borrowing until it can’t.
Fantasy.
Nice idea but it would NEVER get passed.
The entire “Do Not Call” law was pretty much invalidated by Congress allowing spam calls for fund raising.
Now were talking term limits!
Just plain stupid.
“... all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.”
~~~
Not good enough!
It cuts the gravy train short, but all members of congress, after their jobs, will still have plenty of opportunities to work on Wall Street, as Lobbyists, and on Corporate boards.
Book deals, speaking engagements, cable TV news consulting. Etc. Etc.
Anybody mentioning ending baseline budgeting...?
🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.