May 16, 2018

U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator,

You will soon consider Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) fiscal year (FY) 2019 budget resolution. On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), I urge you to support this legislation.

Washington has put taxpayers at risk and on a dangerous trajectory by continuing to increase spending and raise the debt ceiling without regard to incoming levels of revenue or cutting waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. Federal spending has ballooned out of control, as taxpayers now face daunting trillion dollar deficits by 2020 and a national debt greater than $21 trillion. In February, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 eviscerated the 2011 Budget Control Act by allowing spending caps to increase by $300 billion over the next two years. As a follow up in March, Congress passed a mammoth 2,232-page, $1.3 trillion FY 2018 omnibus spending bill.

Sen. Paul's plan would balance the budget within five years by repealing the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 and initiating the Penny Plan. The Penny Plan is a straightforward, effective measure that states for every dollar the federal government spends in FY 2018 , it must spend one penny less the next five years. If Sen. Paul’s budget plan was implemented, it would not only balance within five years, but also save $404.8 billion in FY 2019 and $13.35 trillion over the next ten years without touching Social Security.

Sen. Paul’s budget also makes needed reforms to the budget process that prioritize fiscal responsibility and hold senators accountable. This legislation would raise the vote threshold to waive budget points of order, create a new point of order that bans the use of omnibus appropriations bills and limits the use of consolidated appropriations, and allows for 10 years of budget spending totals to be enforced as an alternative to just one.

The federal government has a moral and fiscal responsibility to Americans that it has simply been shirking. Congress cannot continue on a spending rampage while ignoring the nation’s balance sheet. Sen. Paul’s budget is a strong step toward spending restraint, fixing a broken budget process, and restoring taxpayers’ faith in the ability of elected officials to tackle the nation’s fiscal issues. All votes on this legislation will be among those considered for CCAGW’s 2018 Congressional Ratings.

Sincerely,

Tom Schatz
President, CCAGW

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