Members of the conservative Republican Study Committee chose an rather unfortunate day (Monday) to announce the release of a letter to GOP leaders urging them to push for the implementation of a three-step deficit reduction plan (Cut, Cap and Balance) in return for voting to raise the debt ceiling. More than 100 members, many of them freshman, signed on. The plan is simple enough:
CUT: Reduce discretionary and mandatory in order to cut the deficit in half by next year.
CAP: Enact “statutory, enforceable total-spending caps” that restrict federal spending to 18 percent of GDP.
BALANCE: Pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution in order to “fundamentally and permanently reform the way that Washington budgets and spends.”
The letter also urges Republican leaders to “limit the extension of borrowing authority as much as possible” as way to force responsible action from the White House and Senate Democrats.
“With each passing day our nation’s fiscal health gets worse, leaving our children and grandchildren falling farther into debt,” the letter concludes. “The Democrats have given up, saying that the only answer to excessive borrowing is more borrowing. Therefore, it is imperative that we move quickly and unite behind a plan to restore fiscal responsibility to Washington and renew the Age of America.”