Rand Paul Unveils Balanced Budget Plan That Would Create Surplus In 5 Years

As the U.S. hands out tens of billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine and considers programs like student loan forgiveness, the nation’s spending habits don’t appear to be getting any better.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) believes he has a solution. He released a new budget plan that would include cuts over the next five years sufficient to ultimately produce not just a balanced budget, but a surplus.

Paul says his plan would end up in a $65.8 billion surplus by fiscal year 2027. 

@RandPaul‘s “Six Penny Plan” will balance the budget over the five years by cutting federal spending. A great step to reducing the nation’s $30 trillion debt. https://t.co/39ckQmVqxa

— Citizens Against Government Waste (@GovWaste) June 7, 2022

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Plenty Of Places To Cut Spending

The ultimate goal is to force Congress to live within its means. The only thing not on the chopping block is Social Security.

Sen. Paul said of the plan:

“Five years ago, we could balance our budget with a freeze in spending. Not cut anything. Since then, our debt has skyrocketed to $30 trillion with $2 trillion just from this past year. We cannot keep ignoring this problem at the expense of taxpayers, and my budget will put our nation on track to solve this crisis that Congress created.”

The problem with @RandPaul‘s proposal is that it’s like asking teens to vote to take away the “limitless” credit card their daddy gave them. I wish it were otherwise, but I’m afraid nobody is going to go along with balancing the budget voluntarily.https://t.co/1RngMX2aom

— Josh Steimle (@joshsteimle) June 7, 2022

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The main focus of the plan is to freeze spending at 2023 levels and then cut from there.

Obviously, it’s unlikely to get any kind of support in a spendthrift Congress. It would probably require a huge turnover and new elected officials who are actually committed to fiscal responsibility, rather than members who campaign on it and then spend like drunken sailors while in office.

And as nice as a $65 billion surplus would be, at that rate it would take over 460 years to pay off the $30 trillion debt.

Still, 

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The Biden Plan

Back in March, President Joe Biden released his own budget proposal for fiscal year 2023. It was a mixed bag including an increase in military spending and funding for any future pandemics. Of course, also hefty tax increases on the wealthiest Americans.

But as Americans struggle with 40-year high inflation, and gas and food prices on the rise, Joe Biden may want to revise that budget plan. The first quarter of 2022 took a hard jolt, shrinking at a 1.4% pace. Experts had predicted a 1.1% gain.

While the deficit for fiscal year 2022 stood at $1 trillion, according to Fox News, that number will begin to climb again in 2024, hitting roughly 6% of GDP in ten years. 

“This plan is a significant move to ensure our country’s fiscal sustainability and resolve many future monetary problems. Perhaps most importantly, Paul’s Six Penny Plan seeks to curb much of our country’s needless spending while prioritizing the taxpayer. https://t.co/zRqMDBdRnN

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) June 8, 2022