Stop The Madness

Stop The Madness: "If we continue the very large annual increases in federal spending that our current government has pushed -- Washington is estimated to spend $30,543 per household this year, $5,000 more than two years ago -- our economy will face serious decline, if not collapse. America needs a different and better national economic policy, says Pete du Pont, chairman of the National Center for Policy Analysis and former governor of Delaware.

For instance:

* Our huge annual deficits ($1.47 trillion this year) must be substantially reduced, not expanded; eliminate the military, federal education funding, agriculture support, housing programs, federal prisons, the FBI, Central Intelligence Agency, Coast Guard, and border patrols, and we would still have a deficit.
* Tax rates must be reduced to promote economic growth; start by not letting the Bush tax cuts expire next January, then repeal the ObamaCare 3.8 percent Medicare tax on investment income and the additional 0.9 percent Medicare tax on wages before their 2013 start date.
* Reversing the current federal policy of growing the size and scope of government; not enacting cap-and-trade would be a first step and repealing ObamaCare is another.

With the huge increases in spending enacted in the last two years, it will be difficult to find a congressional consensus on spending reductions. If we cannot all agree, for example, that it's time to end federal subsidies for ethanol ($6 billion per year) and all manner of farm crop subsidies ($15 billion per year), we won't make any progress, says du Pont.

The time has come to stop the economic madness, says du Pont:

* Step one is getting the congressional change in November.
* Step two is for Republicans to step up to the plate and enact substantial spending and tax rate reductions and increase economic growth.
* And step three must be to win the presidency in 2012 so that the Obama governmental expansion comes to an end.

Source: Pete du Pont, 'Stop the Madness; Washington is spending the country into economic decline,' OpinionJournal.com, August 25, 2010.