A promise to cut $100 billion from the national budget that Republican leaders made in their Pledge To America – a goal which has already been reduced to $50 billion (ahem) – is being challenged by Rand Paul and Ron Paul who are working on a much ‘more ambitious’ bill that would cut nearly $500 billion.
During the ABC News interview with George Stephanopoulos, Rand Paul reminds America that four years ago Senator Obama voted against extending the debt ceiling because ‘our leaders were being irresponsible and not cutting spending.’
‘I don’t see this entirely as a budgetary problem, I see this as a philosophy of government problem.’ — Ron Paul
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Here’s one of the better critiques I found on the Pledge To America:
(Doug Ross) There’s [...] plenty of fluff, with anecdotes and quotes and lengthy paragraphs that morph into meaningless mush.
Consider the summary of the GOP pledge:
• We will fight to ensure transparency and accountability in Congress and throughout government. [Platitude]
• We will continue to fight the growth of government and oppose new stimulus spending that only puts our nation further in debt. [Platitude]
• We will fight efforts to fund the costly new health care law. [Feh]
• We will fight to increase access to domestic energy sources and oppose attempts to impose a national “cap and trade” energy tax. [Okay, barely]
• We will fight for the rights of workers and oppose “card check” schemes that put union bosses before individuals’ right to a secret ballot. [Okay, barely]
• We will fight efforts to use a national crisis for political gain. [I have no idea what this means]
Reps. Boehner, Cantor, Ryan and other members of the GOP, you could have come to me for the one-page pledge. It would read as follows:
We pledge that every action we take will be gauged by the answer to a single question: Does it show fidelity to the Constitution, our highest law?
With that as our guide, we solemnly pledge the following as our first actions:
• We will repeal the Democrat health care bill and, if vetoed by the President, will de-fund every aspect of that bill until such time as the American people have input into a sensible health care reform process.
• We will slash the size of the federal government bureaucracies (Commerce, Education, Energy, the EPA, Labor, etc.) by 20% in 2011 with a goal of reducing each by 50% over the next three years, thereby saving hundreds of billions of dollars.
• We will secure the border with physical fencing suitable to repel drug smugglers, human smugglers, and terrorists, while encouraging legal immigration and enforcement of the law.
• We will confront the entitlement crisis — Social Security and Medicare — by preserving benefits for those who depend upon them and moving to privatized options for younger workers. Anything less condemns future generations to mountains of debt and economic catastrophe.
• We will strengthen our armed forces, space and missile defense programs to retain our unparalleled superpower status.
• We will begin the process of paying down our debts, spending within our means every year.
• We will ban public sector unions, which exist solely to wage war against the taxpayers who fund their operations.
Put simply: we intend to adhere to a strict interpretation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Faith, Family, and the Founding. That is our creed.
And for your support and with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
U.S. practically owned by China – who cares? Not Congress: HERE
Feds secretly bailout GE, Verizon, foreign banks and foreign industry: HERE
3M battles Obamacare: HERE
Big Bird calls out Michelle Obama on Health Care: HERE
[...] Ron Paul And Rand Paul Interviewed By George Stephanopoulos -- ‘Government Is Bankrupt… [...]
Oh my that Doug Ross sounds like a true liberal. Blah Blah Blah. Our country is in deep trouble with the Bimbo in the WH. I’m getting tired of the elite college grads that have all lib. brains , but no common sense of how our country really runs. That guy needs to be behind bars. He is an insult to this country. What was that brain dead Pelosi that said we have to pass it before we know what is in the bill. She is a idiot. Thank GOD she is no longer head of Congress. Give fair warning to the Dems with the next race. Your on notice follow the Constitution or else.!!!!
Hey Barbara,
Actually, just the opposite, in regards to Doug being a ‘liberal’.
In the first portion of Doug’s critique, he points out the ‘soft’ and ‘ambiguous’ promises made in the ‘Pledge To America.’
And while the ‘Pledge To America’ is a step in the right direction, Doug points out in the *second* portion of his critique that ‘the pledge should have been more specific’ and that congress should adhere to a strict interpretation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
But your other points are well taken.
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I was thinking Mr. Ross didn’t go quite far enough with some of those agencies, like the EPA and Education, in particular, which need to be 100 % shut down NOW as a total waste of taxpayer money, which contribute to the problems and not the solutions; the rest should be reduced to at least 50 % of their current sizes, but 25 % or or less would be even better in most cases. The FDA is a case in point there; they don’t do the job in any case, so why keep them on? But I heartily agree with the NO unions for public sector employees. If they DON’T like the fact that they’re PUBLIC SERVANTS, let them go get a job in the private sector, where they can have their unions, but those need to be stiffly curtailed in what activities they may engage in AS a union too, and politics should be one that’s prohibited, as it should be for corporations AS such entities; the individual members of both, naturally are free to participate as private citizens ONLY! Government is supposed to be of, for and by the PEOPLE, not the UNIONS or the CORPORATIONS!
$500 billion in cuts is good, but it’s not enough.
The US Government is overspending by $1.27 trillion ($1,270 billion) if not more.
If Congress would cut spending by 90% of the deficit or $1.150 trillion ($1,150 billion) I’d personally write the government a check for the remaining $120 billion in lost revenue from the tax cuts to balance the budget and stop the debt from increasing. Congress has to stop kicking the can down the road. Maybe they could cut the remaining $120 billion too? It’s only 10% of the problem, so it can’t be blamed for not balancing the budget.
[...] Ron and Rand Paul plan to introduce a bill to cut the federal budget by $500 billion. Rand says tha… Sad Hill Posted 2011 Jan 8 [...]
Doug Ross says that the pledge should include:
“• We will strengthen our armed forces, space and missile defense programs to retain our unparalleled superpower status.”
And nobody contradicts him.. Wow guys you still want to be the bullies of the world to spread more peace like in Korea, Viet Nam, Irak, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, etc etc etc … and have 170 military presense in the world?
Well, one day the world is going to ge sick of you pushing around the rest, just like it did with the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and just boycott you.. Will you be able to fix that with bullets and misiles?
Why don’t you follow the Ron Paul advice to eliminate Empire Building and put that in the pledge? Stop the paranoia, you will not be invaded nor targheted if you fall in line with PEACE and stop pretending to be the World Policeman, Judge and Enforcer.
Become humble.
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