As we exhaustively watch competing, yet similarly unproductive plans between Boehner and Reid that seem to be going nowhere, it causes one to reflect on the only responsible plan out there during this entire debt debate, the Cut, Cap and Balance Act. And that wasn’t even given a vote in the Democrat-led Senate, if that gives you any indication of how effective it would have been, particularly with the inclusion of a Balanced Budget Amendment. There are attempts to revive that bill, along with a stand-alone BBA, but another plan has also risen beyond the rubble to provide a clear path towards real balance, unlike Obama’s defining of that word. The One Percent Spending Reduction Act – also known simply as the “Penny Plan” – was introduced by Sen. Mike Enzi (WY) and authored by Congressman Connie Mack (FL), and has garnered “the support of over 40 co-sponsors in the U.S House; the backing of the Republican Study Committee’s 103 Members, three key U.S. Senators,” among which Sen. Rand Paul is a big supporter of, and several grassroots organizations, as well as gaining support almost daily. As laid out on the congressman’s website:
The Penny Plan balances the budget by:
• Cutting total federal spending by one percent each year for six consecutive years,
• Setting an overall spending cap of 18 percent of gross domestic product in 2018, and
• Reducing overall spending by $7.5 trillion over 10 years.
If Congress and the President are unable to make the necessary cuts, the bill’s fail-safe triggers automatic, across-the-board cuts to ensure the one percent reductions are achieved.
Here’s more details from Congressman Mack in an interview given earlier in July…
As Hannity just had Speaker Boehner on his radio program, and asked him about this plan, to the astonishment of I’m certain many listeners (I know it was to this one), Boehner seemed to know little, if anything, about this plan. What’s with the communication on Capitol Hill, when I can find out about a seemingly fantastic proposal, but the leadership hasn’t heard of it? As my high school French teacher used to decry in frustration, “O mon dieu…”
