Fiscal Cliff 2013: A Ten Year Plan To Get The US Out of Debt
A couple years ago I sat down and put together a plan for my family to become completely debt free. This included paying for cars, student loans, and a mortgage, while also supporting my wife, daughter, and another baby (hopefully to come in the next few days).
I’m now two years into a nine-year plan to be completely debt free. We still have dates from time to time, family trips and vacations, but we are careful about how we spend our money. We know the consequences of liberal spending for our family.
I got to thinking. If I can get all the numbers on how the federal government spends its money, perhaps I can come up with a plan for the government to be completely debt free as well. For my sanity, I started to come up with a 10-year plan for the country to become debt free.
This is the first installment of a series of articles summarizing my plan.
There are a few analogies I want to present. First, there are necessities that my family has: food, shelter, clothes, transportation, and some sort of way to purchase, trade, or produce those items. I want to compare that to the federal government's need to operate: infrastructure, defense, regulation of interstate commerce, revenue, etc.
Then there are the wants. I want air conditioning (I live in Central Texas), insurance for my family, to give to charity, dependable cars, a good neighborhood, and a good school for my children. The federal government may want to have the premier military in the world, or provide a safety net for the poorest Americans.
If my family does not meet our basic needs, we do not splurge on our wants. That should be the same recipe for the federal government and is the basis of my solution to our fiscal situation.
I also want to add that your contribution is wanted and encouraged. That’s why I wanted to be a part of the PolicyMic community!
Here is the overview of how my budget would work:
Social Security
No one will be forced to pay a single dollar of Social Security or Medicare taxes anymore. Social Security benefits will continue to be distributed uninterrupted for every person currently receiving benefits and those over 45 can opt in. Everyone under 45 will be refunded (with interest) all the funds they have contributed to Social Security and Medicare.
Taxation
There will be fundamental reform to taxation, including the elimination of the income tax, corporate tax, death tax, and all payroll taxes. A federal consumption tax for nonessential items will be instituted. The IRS will be eliminated and wages are expected to increase by at least 26%.
Medicaid/Health Insurance
Medicaid and Medicare will be combined and reformed under the Medicaid name. One third of the citizens will have free health insurance and 13% will receive subsidized health care. This plan will save over $6 trillion over 10 years while providing better care for the needy.
Federal Employees, including all branches of the federal government, will have the same plan that is offered under the newly formed Medicaid. It will be an Health Savings Account qualified plan through a reputable private insurance company. The federal government will also step in and allow interstate purchases of health insurance and end monopolies of insurance companies in some states.
There will no longer be any incentive to choose employer health insurance plans. Any employee can find the best plan through any provider in any state, tax-free.
Other Spending Cuts
The Departments of Education and Transportation will lose their budgets as well as other unconstitutional departments, programs, and spending, which will be deferred to the states, per the 10th Amendment. This will save $340 billion per year.
Overall
This plan will get the U.S. out of debt in 10 years. It will make retirement sustainable, reduce health care costs, make health insurance affordable for everyone, create a fair federal tax, create a business climate for growth, and ultimately remove the burden of the unending growth in federal government that restrain average citizens.
This plan will help people retire on their terms, whenever they want. It will also grow their paychecks by an expected 26%.
