Quickest path to Congressional Budget Resolution
I'm presuming the reason the White House is offering this campaign in the Spring instead of the usual Fall season is to find some quick savings to placate Congress and avoid more delays in the Budget approval. To this I suggest the Pres. declare a Special Session of Congress specifically to deal with the budget. For a lengthy background/reasoning, see below. The Constitution (II:3:2) gives the president the power to ...more »
I'm presuming the reason the White House is offering this campaign in the Spring instead of the usual Fall season is to find some quick savings to placate Congress and avoid more delays in the Budget approval. To this I suggest the Pres. declare a Special Session of Congress specifically to deal with the budget. For a lengthy background/reasoning, see below.
The Constitution (II:3:2) gives the president the power to convene/adjourn Congress on extraordinary occassions, even implies the power of a Congressional "lock-in" if necessary. DoD Secretary Robert Gates called the budget delays a crisis while Joint Chief of Staff Michael Mullen called the federal debt the "single biggest threat to our national security" which suggests extraordinary measures are justified to provide for the common defense, domestic tranquility and general welfare. The president could give Congress a mandated net savings for x #/% over x # of years during this special session (I suggest a 10% reduction per year over 5 years as an example). The longer the session, the longer Congress can't leave D. C. or do fundraising creating incentives for a speedy budget process. The "winners" can claim victory, "losers" can blame the president, the president can appeal to the public good, and everyone can breathe easier on averting financial disaster while condemning individual parts.
Can Congress generate quickly the needed savings in a $3T budget? Yes, especially if the Instant Runoff Voting was combined with various reports policy suggestions created in response to the Fiscal Commission's "Moment of Truth". I don't/can't agree/verify with all of them (and please only vote/discuss on the above merits to stay on target) but they suggest some large savings that should be considered:
Sen. Schakowsky plan cites a GAO study that $99B were made in 2009 toward improper payments and $77B+ was spent in a tax policy encouraging highly-leveraged financing which helped contribute to the current economic crisis.
PIRG/NTU cite CBO study that cutting agriculture subsidies would save $35B+, Joint Committee on Taxation for cutting Ethanol Subsidies $22B+; Defense Aquisition Panel reforms $135B+; GAO on obsolete DoD parts $184B; OMB on surplus buildings for $24B; CBO studies on Medicare reforms $32B; Multiple committees on reducing Nuclear Aresnal for $56B; etc.
Sen. Domenici suggests a carbon tax and a sugar tax while pointing out tax expenditures have cost over $1T in 2010.
The GAO estimates a $290B tax gap in high risk series. In it's report on duplication estimates potential annual savings of $15-20B in consolidating government servers and the government spent $170B on non-competitive contracts in 2009.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute estimates regulatory costs exceed $1T a year that could otherwise generate tax revenue not to mention hemp legalization which could alleviate oil imports.
This tactic may be heavy handed but only one person (i. e. the president) can enforce a singular/holistic vision to balance the budget. While this may be too polical for this idea campaign or violate the Hatch Act, I believe this may achieve the implied goals.
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