VoteKansas.org

Budget

We shall enact economic and fiscal policies that require fiscal responsibility and accountability from our government.

1. The Federal government shall be managed within its means, and will not continually run budget deficits.
2. Pass a Balanced Budget Amendment.
3. Pay down the Federal Debt until the principal balance is zero and American taxpayers no longer have to pay interest on the debt.
4. Use any budget surpluses generated to pay down the debt, they should not be used to fund tax reductions nor to fund new programs.
5. Eliminate programs that are wasteful, outdated or that do not serve an important national goal.
6. End corporate welfare and special interest subsidies.
7. Manage mandatory spending programs and government-sponsored enterprises so that they are self-funding.
8. Review all programs on a regular basis and always make trust fund reports.
9. Remove all trust fund balances from the budget deficit calculations, so that the true size of the federal deficit is made clear to the American people.

Targeted Action Budget Planks

The economic projecting functions of the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office should be merged into the General Accounting Office (GAO).  This new division of the GAO will then be solely responsible for producing the economic assumptions necessary for budget deliberations between Congress and the President.  The GAO staff charged with this responsibility should be permanent employees, while the director should be a presidential appointee subject to confirmation by the Senate.

A ten-year plan to disband the Department of Housing and Urban Development should be adopted that is linked to a revenue guarantee program for municipalities.  The plan should require a binding commitment on the part of cities to restructure local systems of revenue raising to promote employment-creation and the construction and rehabilitation of the city's housing and business infrastructure.

The mission of the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) should be confined to promoting Arts Districts within Federal Enterprise Zones.  NEA grants for any uses other than the development of infrastructure, such as performance halls and artists markets, should be discontinued.

The Appalachian Regional Commission should be abolished, but its current level of funding should be retained and transferred into Community Development Block Grant accounts for a period of ten years to bolster the revitalization of America's inner-cities.

Social Service Block Grants should be merged into Community Development Block Grants to reduce the cost of administering the grants and to enhance the capacity of taxpayers to scrutinize their usage.

The Tennessee Valley Authority should be privatized, after which consideration should be given as to the most efficient way to privatize the regional Power Marketing Administrations.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting should be subsidized at a rate equal to 25% of its budget for the previous fiscal year, so that it does not become too reliant on corporate sponsorship and in turn compromise its news coverage.