Balancing the Budget

Reduce and Freeze Discretionary Spending

I will introduce legislation to roll back and freeze discretionary federal spending at 2007 levels. I will also support $1.3 trillion in cuts to wasteful government spending over the next ten years. This Congress has spent more than any other in American history. Tomorrow’s Americans may have to sacrifice for decades to pay off what government is borrowing. The waste must go.

Fix Medicare and Social Security

I will tackle the looming crises in Social Security and Medicare, both of which are on a path to insolvency. I will work with members of both parties to forge a new generational compact — one that will protect commitments our government made to previous generations, while giving families today the same control over their retirement savings that members of Congress enjoy, and providing them tax credits to purchase health insurance.

End Earmarks

I will oppose the system of earmarks that has allowed corruption to flourish and which has taken funds away from where they are needed most. Earmarks may be small compared to overall spending, but they undermine trust in government, and erode accountability among politicians in Washington. I will neither request nor vote for earmarks, and I will introduce legislation to reform the budget process.