Boehner Plan would "increase our national debt to $23.7 trillion by the end of the decade"

Key Vote NO on Speaker Boehner's Debt Ceiling Plan

Dear FreedomWorks member,

As one of our million-plus FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your Representative and ask him or her to vote NO on Speaker Boehner’s new debt ceiling plan. While we applaud House leadership for passing the Cut, Cap and Balance Act last week, we do not support Speaker Boehner’s new compromise, which violates the Cut, Cap and Balance Pledge because it neither cuts nor caps nor balances federal spending.

The new Boehner plan does not cut spending sufficiently enough to reduce the deficit next year and thereafter. The Speaker’s proposal would only cut $6 billion next year and $1.2 trillion in discretionary spending over the next 10 years—which is less than this year’s budget deficit alone. Even if all of these spending cuts come to fruition (they usually do not), it would still increase our national debt to $23.7 trillion by the end of the decade. The plan would only slightly reduce our nation’s projected debt-to-GDP ratio from 104 to 92 percent. It is clear that Boehner’s plan does not cut enough to save our nation from a creditworthiness downgrade.

Furthermore, the plan does not cap federal spending and thus does not put us on a path to a balanced budget. Instead, it caps only discretionary spending which is already capped by definition and accounts for only 39 percent of the budget. Boehner’s plan will increase the debt ceiling by $1 trillion immediately without first passing a strong Balanced Budget Amendment out of Congress. It will increase the chances of a tax hike by giving significant legislative power to a 12-member “Super Committee” charged with producing $1.8 trillion in 10-year deficit reduction. The committee would have 6 Democrats and 6 Republicans, but would likely be 4 liberals, 4 moderates, and 4 conservatives, rendering irrelevant the conservative coalition of new Members of Congress that has empowered Speaker Boehner at the negotiating table.

Boehner’s plan is unnecessary since the House has already passed the Cut, Cap and Balance Act, which reflects the spirit of the Pledge. Even though Senate Democrats voted to table the Act instead of debate it, it remains parliamentary alive in—and could be passed by—the Senate. We must not allow Senate Democrats to obstruct the Cut, Cap and Balance Act. Moody’s Investors Services has said the AAA rating of US government bonds is in jeopardy unless Congress passes “a budget that includes long-term deficit reduction.” The only introduced plan that could protect our national AAA credit rating is Cut, Cap and Balance.

I urge you to call your representatives and ask them to vote NO on Speaker Boehner’s debt ceiling plan. We will count their vote as a KEY VOTE when calculating the FreedomWorks Economic Freedom Scorecard for 2011. The Economic Freedom Scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the Jefferson Award, which recognizes members of Congress with voting records that support economic freedom.

Sincerely,

Matt Kibbe
President and CEO
FreedomWorks