The 2013 Budget You Haven’t Heard About: Rand Paul’s

Since Obama took office there has not been a budget and the country has been operating at $1.1+ Trillion deficits. Obama has already missed the legal deadline to submit a budget for the next FY. This makes 4 years in a row. In February, 2012 the office of US Senator Rand Paul proposed a budget. With Paul (R-KY) being pushed as a major Presidential contender in 2016 what could we expect from a Paul presidency in regards to the budget?

Paul proposes completely eliminating or cutting the following agencies, organizations and laws:

• Eliminate the Government Printing Office: (Spent $30 million in tax payer money in 2010 printing materials such as comic books. The seldom, if ever read Congressional Record cost $782/page to print. Paul proposes using the internet to display documents.)
• Eliminate the following under the Department of Agriculture: Agriculture Research Service (Agriculture, like all other industries, can perform its own research and development without the use of federal subsidies), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (States and colleges already fund the activities carried out by this branch), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (Modern technology has eliminated the need for this branch), Block Grant Food Stamps and Child Nutrition Program(Money will be returned to the states so that it can be most efficiently distributed to those in need).
• Eliminate the Department of Commerce: “Department of Commerce is nothing more than a hall closet where you throw in everything that you don’t know what to do with.” - Robert Mosbacher, Former Secretary of Commerce
• Eliminate the Department of Education; preserve the Pell Grant program at FY2008 levels: The growth in education spending at the federal level has gone from nearly $35.5 billion in 2001 to an estimated $70.2 billion in FY2012 – nearly a 100 percent increase. Today, the Federal government spends an average of $10,000 per pupil every year – more than double what we spent in 1970 – yet, the results have been disappointing at best. Reading and Math scores from 1971 – 2008 did not trend proportionally with the large spending increases, and overall achievement had declined in science scores.During the first half of the past century, America ranked among the most educated populations in the world. Since that time, the role of the federal government in education has expanded significantly, accounting for as much as 10 percent of all government spending in FY2009. As the role of the federal government in education has increased, conversely, the U.S. rankings have been falling below other economically developed countries. In December 2010, the OECD reported that the U.S. continues to fall relative to world educational levels. Returning this money to the states will not only improve education, but drastically improve our deficit.
• Eliminate the Department of Energy: Transfer the Atomic Energy Agency and all nuclear research laboratories to re-established Atomic Energy Commission. Examples of waste and fraud include: $10,000 in federal grants to design footwear from renewable resources; and $96.2 billion for Yucca Mountain, a nuclear waste repository in Nevada that will likely go unused; $535 million in loans to the now bankrupt Solyndra Corporation; and a $2.1 billion loan guarantee to German developer to help finance a 1,000 megawatt solar thermal power plant in southern California.
•  Cut Defense Spending- Policy Proposals: Modernize military force size (bring the troops home). Reduce overseas presence (close embassies that cost our country billions of dollars, quit subsidizing Asian, European, and Middle Eastern countries with American tax dollars to fund their military campaigns and national security. Allow them to be sovereign Nations).  Transition security forces to Afghanistan governments (end our presence in Afghanistan and return the country to its people and own government). Reduce waste, fraud, and abuse (Paul provides the following examples: The Pentagon can’t account for $9 billion that was meant to be provided to the Iraqi government; The Department of Defense paid over $285 billion to contractors engaged in fraudulent behavior over a three-year period; and Nearly $200 million was transferred to the Army’s personnel fund after funds were lost and overspent.With a budget larger than that of most countries, and a facility (the Pentagon) ranked as the largest office building in the world, the Pentagon claims that due to its enormous size, accurate financial reporting is complicated:The DOD obligates an average of $2 billion to $3 billion every business day and handles hundreds of thousands of payment transactions, which take place in thousands of worldwide locations, including war zones. This lack of accountability on paper puts the department at high risk of major losses in cash and inefficiencies, and just like any other federal bureaucracy, the DOD should be held accountable and forced to comply with regular audits. Currently, the DOD has been provided six years to organize and prepare for the scheduled audit in 2017).-“We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search of absolute security.” -General Dwight D. Eisenhower, “Our national debt is our biggest national security threat.’ -Admiral Mike Mullen, Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
• Abolish the TSA and privatize airport security
• Collect delinquent taxes from federal employees
• Reduce Federal Travel
• Repeal Davis Bacon Law
• Ban Union Labor Project Agreements
• Sell Unused Federal Assets
• Reduce Federal Vehicle Budget
• Sell Excess Federal Lands
• Sell Equity Stake in GM, Chrysler, & AIG
• Rescind all unspent Budget Authority after 36 months
• Allow Line Item Veto
• Open ANWR and the Keystone Pipeline to allow for more energy independence 
• Reform the Tax Code to a Flat Tax
• Adopt a Balanced Budget Amendment to the US Constitution
• Freeze Foreign Aid Funding at $5 Billion
• Reform Social Security: According to the 2011 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Social Security Trust Fund, Social Security has a current unfunded liability of $6.5 trillion in present value (over 75 years) – or nearly $60,747 per household.
• Reform Medicare through new Act called, “Congressional Health Care for Seniors Act”: The Medicare Trustees indicate that the unfunded obligation for the program over the next 75 years is $24.4 trillion. This is simply not sustainable and reform must occur. This act allows for all seniors to be enrolled into the same health care plan as their Members of Congress and other federal employees. By all accounts, elected officials and federal employees receive the finest health insurance in the country. It is time for every senior to get the best health care in America. Not only is the Congressional health care plan better, it’s less expensive. Taxpayers will save more than $1 trillion over the first 10 years and reduce Medicare’s 75-year unfunded obligation by $16 trillion. Individual seniors will save thousands of dollars from their personal health care budgets each year while receiving more generous health . While only 73% of doctors accepts Medicare, more than 90% accept FEHBP (Federal Employees Health Benefits). The quality, access, and costs will greatly improve for all seniors.
• Repeal the Patient Accountability and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)

Above are only a few of the highlights from the 103  page budget proposal. Senator Paul’s Budget balances in only 5 years. The full text of the budget can be read here.The above budget highlights are a sensible step towards fiscal responsibility, which is something America will be in dire need of come 2016.

http://thelibertypaper.org/page/2/