Budget proposal includes more than $650 billion in savings over five years
WASHINGTON — Americans for Tax Reform endorsed today a plan proposed by the House Republican Study Committee (RSC), which would balance the federal budget by 2011. The new plans are patterned after the 1995 “Contract with America” budget that allowed Republicans to win control of the House for the first time in 40 years.
Among the projections of the budget is a plan to save nearly $360 billion in reconciliation spending over the next five years. The balanced budget would also include a reorganization of three cabinet agencies resulting in another $300 billion in savings. Additionally, the budget calls for an elimination of over 150 federal programs, a decrease in foreign aid and protection against automatic tax increases.
Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN), chairman of the RSC, along with Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), announced the balanced budget saying it “will renew our commitment to fiscal discipline and reform by balancing the budget and paying down our national debt.”
“I applaud the members of the RSC for recognizing the spending reform that can and should be done,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. “This budget is a necessary step in helping us return back to our traditional conservative values of disciplined spending, limited government and less taxes.”