Invoking the Beatles’ plea in “Hey Jude” to “take a sad song and make it better,” National Review columnist Deroy Murdock recently issued a friendly challenge to several think tanks. He urged them to pitch specific policy reforms to Donald Trump. National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF) was given the mission of convincing Trump to support a balanced-budget proposal known as the Penny Plan. We’re up for it.
The Penny Plan is a simple reform to cut spending by one cent for each dollar spent and limit outlays to the amount of incoming revenues. It was last introduced in Congress as the One Percent Spending Reduction Act of 2014. That bill would have reduced outlays by 1 percent for three consecutive years. Starting in the fourth year after passage, a spending cap would be instituted. At 18 percent of GDP, it would match the average level of tax receipts to the federal government, setting a path for a balanced budget.
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