The Super Committee mission to “Reduce the deficit” was a pointless, clueless ruse.
It simply diverted attention away from the real issue: dramatically reducing federal government overspending.
“Reducing the deficit” from this year’s $1.6 trillion can easily be done by cynical politicians by reducing it to $1.5 trillion. Or by raising taxes $100 billion. Or by using government accounting tricks to make it look lower.
Just like they always do.
Because it is possible to reduce the deficit by increasing taxes – a move that would further decimate the American economy and lead to massive job losses – deficit reduction should not be the primary goal. The #1 priority is to reduce federal spending.
Eliminating the deficit – not just reducing it – is imperative, but it must be achieved solely through reductions in total government spending – without a dime of increased taxes.
The Libertarian Party calls for immediately reducing federal spending by $1.6 trillion to the level of current revenues. This eliminates the need to put job-killing taxes on the table.
Once the deficit is eliminated by government spending cuts alone, the federal government will still be massive: $2.2 trillion. Total federal, state and local government spending in the United States will still be larger than the entire economies of all but two countries (China and Japan) in the world. This astronomical level of government spending is killing American jobs and putting the dollar – along with the wealth of Americans – at great risk.
As soon as lawmakers reduce federal government spending to $2.2 trillion, further cuts in both federal spending and taxes should be next on the agenda. This will not only force politicians to remove and reduce unnecessary, wasteful and damaging federal bureaucracies. It will also be the fastest way to bring the country’s economic slide to an abrupt halt, revive the job market and restore prosperity.
