Feinberg Economic Plan

8/2/2019 Feinberg Economic Plan

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Turning the Lights Back OnRestoring the Shining City

Evan Feinberg

Candidate for U.S. Congress18

thDistrict of Pennsylvania

www.evanfeinberg.comPaid for by Evan Feinberg for Congress
http://www.evanfeinberg.com/http://www.evanfeinberg.com/


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TURNING THE LIGHTS BACK ON: RESTORING THE SHINING CITY EVAN FEINBERG FOR CONGRESS

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PAID FOR BY EVAN FEINBERG FOR CONGRESS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Evan Feinberg: Letter to the Taxpayer..3

Executive Summary...5

Summary Tables and Charts....6

Slash Spending: Discretionary Spending, by Agency).8

Keep Our Promises: Entitlement Reform.....16

Grow the Economy: Tax and Regulatory Reform.20

Conclusion: The Shining City on a Hill..23


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Dear Taxpayer of the 18th District of PA,

I want to share with you a comprehensive and detailed plan to save our country from fiscal ruin.

Some pundits will call this political suicide, because my budget will anger special interest groups of allstripes. Despite this potential political risk, I am convinced a majority of Americans believe the time for

political expediency is over and want their leaders to offer substantive solutions. The American people

prefer a candidate with courage and conviction to stand against agents of the status quo in Washington.

Ronald Reagan often remarked that America is a shining city on a hill. In doing so, Reagan

invoked our Founders vision that America was to be a great experiment in limited government. The

founders had this crazy idea that the American people could govern themselves. Not only did the

experiment prove successful, but America became the first nation in human history to develop an

antidote to poverty: freedom.

Yet after over two centuries of prosperity like the world has never known, the American dream

is at risk of failure. The lights of the city are flickering. The Constitution, originally meant to be a

restraint on the size and scope of government, is trampled on and ignored. The result is nearly $16

trillion in debt with structural deficits of over $1 trillion annually. Our debt is grinding our economy to a

standstill and many Americans are hurting.

For too long, politicians in Washington, D.C. have talked about cutting the deficit, but they do

nothing about it. My opponent in this springs Republican primary voted with President Obama to

authorize $2.4 trillion in new debt-- the fourth time hes voted to increase the debt limit, for a total of

$5 trillion in new debt. When he arrived in Washington in 2002, the debt limit was $6.4 trillion. Now, it

is $16.7 trillion.

Its time to stop spending. Tim Murphy voted to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; I

propose privatizing them. Tim Murphy voted to expand government-run health care for children and

expand the bankrupt Medicare entitlement program; I propose real-world solutions to save these

programs rather than continuing to throw good money after bad. And while Tim Murphy has spent his

career supporting wasteful spending like "Cash for Clunkers" and the Bridge to Nowhere, I offer real

and specific cuts to unnecessary federal programs.

The House of Representatives had just one vote last year for a balanced budget, offered by the

conservative Republican Study Committee, and Tim Murphy voted against it. Yes, thats right. Tim

Murphy voted with Obama to add $2.4 trillion in new debt in the same year he voted against a

conservative budget to balance the books.

In contrast to Tim Murphy, I have personally developed the following solutions to our countrys

fiscal problems. These ideas, tables, and figures do not come from campaign staff or highly-paid

consultants. I personally spent many late nights and long hours developing solutions to our countrys

fiscal problems.


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My guiding principles are simple. Is a program constitutional? Is it duplicative? Is it necessary? Is

it spending money wisely? Is the program delivering results? Can the program be reformed to provide

better benefits at a lower cost? I took a comprehensive look at the entire federal government and

developed specific answers.

The solutions are straightforward: dramatically reduce discretionary spending, reform

entitlement programs, and eliminate every tax on productive activity. If we unleash the ingenuity of

the American people, our nations light can shine brighter than ever.

Politicians from both parties will talk about balancing the budget. Many will even support a

balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitutiona worthy reform. But these words are

empty rhetoric unless politicians get specific on the programs and agencies they will cut, eliminate, or

reform to get our fiscal house in order.

During my time in Washington, D.C., I had the opportunity to work for two courageous United

States Senators who led by example-- Senator Tom Coburn and Senator Rand Paul. In each office, my

job was to identify wasteful spending and develop innovative solutions to our countrys fiscal woes.

Sen. Coburn published a 600-page plan, Back in Black, that slashed $9 trillion from the federal

budget over the next 10 yearsthe most detailed and comprehensive look at our federal budget in

modern politics. Sen. Paul drafted and forced a vote on legislation to balance the budget in just five

years by dramatically reducing spending and reforming entitlements. I am proud each of them has

endorsed my candidacy, and I owe many of the particular ideas in this plan to their efforts.

With Turning the Lights Back On, I aim to show the voters of the 18 th Congressional District my

specific plan to save our country. It is my sincere hope that putting forward such a plan becomes a

requisite litmus test for every candidate running for federal office across the country and can serve asa guiding light to all of our elected officials in moving forward to restore the Americandream.

Sincerely,

Evan Feinberg

Republican Candidate

United States Congress (PA-18)


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Executive Summary

The Turning the Lights Back On (TLBO) Plan slashes spending, reforms unsustainable entitlement

programs, and fixes our tax code to get our economy moving again. The TLBO achieves the following:

$661 billion in spending cuts in the first year of the plan (2013); $9.1 trillion in total spending cuts (2013-2022),$11.8 trillion less than the Presidents budget; A balanced budget in just three years (2015); Eliminates Four Agencies and 233 Programsreal cuts instead of budget gimmicks; Saves Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security andother Entitlement Programs from bankruptcy; Scraps the current tax code and replaces it with a pro-growth flat tax which reduces the total

tax burden on Americans by $4.5 trillion over 10 years.

The Turning the Lights Back On plan can be broken down into three key initiatives:

Slash Spending. This budget reduces discretionary spending by entirely eliminating unnecessaryor unconstitutional agencies (Department of Education, Housing and Urban Development,

Commerce, and Energy); pursuing meaningful reductions in defense spending without making

America less safe; eliminating duplicative programs; and cutting wasteful and other unnecessary

spending.

Keep our Promises. This country has made promises to seniors and veterans that it must honor.We can keep our promises with common-sense reforms to fix these programs rather than let

them go bankrupt. A different reform is necessary for each of our major entitlements

Medicare, Medicaid, Social Securitybut each receives a needed overhaul.

Grow the Economy. The TLBO plan institutes a 17 percent flat tax on individuals, families andbusinesses, abolishes the death tax and gift taxes, and allows companies to repatriate profits

from overseas without taxation. My plan lifts onerous regulations, starting with a repeal of

Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, Sarbanes-Oxley, the new FDA Food Safety Regulations, and the full

repeal of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). TLBO puts procedural reforms in place to

prevent unelected bureaucrats from circumventing Congress to put in place new ones. It

conducts a full audit of the Federal Reserve and the government will begin allowing gold and

silver to be used as currency.


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Summary Tables

Table 1: TLBOSummary of Effect on Deficits/Surpluses (in billions)

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2013-2022

Revenues 2,313 2,468 3,031 3,225 3,519 3,879 4,144 4,423 4,712 4,918 36,632

Outlays 2,849 2,882 3,018 3,234 3,369 3,537 3,786 3,963 4,149 4,403 35,192

Total Deficit -536 -414 13 -9 150 342 358 460 563 515 1,440

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,500

5,000

5,500

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

In billions ($)

Spending vs. Revenues

Revenues

Outlays


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Table 2: Total SpendingTLBO, CBO Baseline, Presidents Budget (in billions)

Total Outlays Comparison 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2013-2022

TLBO 2,849 2,882 3,018 3,234 3,369 3,537 3,786 3,963 4,149 4,403 35,192

CBO 3,573 3,658 3,836 4,086 4,259 4,439 4,714 4,960 5,205 5,520 44,251

President 3,803 3,883 4,060 4,329 4,532 4,728 5,004 5,262 5,537 5,820 46,959

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Outlaysin

Billions($)

Total Spending (Outlays)

TLBO

CBO

President


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Slash Spending: Discretionary Spending Cuts

Discretionary spending refers to the amount of money spent each year by our government as

determined by Congress. The only way to get our discretionary budget under control is to eliminate

entire programs and agencies from the federal budget and freeze discretionary spending at reduced

levels over the next ten years.

Most conservative budgets roll back spending levels to either 2006 or 2008 appropriations levels. It is

not enough, however, to simply roll back the top-line funding levels. Historically, government programs

and agencies grow much bigger and much faster than we anticipate. The only way to get spending

under control is to eliminate entire agencies and programs

In 2012, our discretionary spending budget is $1.319 trillion. Under my plan, in fiscal year 2013 the

discretionary budget will be just $821 billiona realization of $498 billion in real spending cuts from

discretionary spending. Against the CBO baseline, these savings are $399 billion (the discrepancy is due

to the CBO-anticipated cuts associated with the Budget Control Act).

Below are specific cuts I propose to the discretionary budget, with the total departmental savings for

FY2013. See Table 3 for complete 10-year savings, broken down by department.

Overall Discretionary Reforms. While my plan makes sweeping and specific cuts to agencies, programs

and projects, there are a few important reforms across the government. First, my plan permanently

bans all earmarks from the federal budget. Second, my plan puts in place a new statutory requirement

to cut real spending the moment any new spending is even authorized (referred to as Cut -Go by the

Republicans in the House). Third, to prevent unauthorized federal spending, my plan would require

every piece of new legislation to cite its authorizing legislation (all appropriations are supposed to be

authorized by previous legislation). Further, improper citation would be a point of order against

unauthorized spending on the House floor.

While these reforms help to prevent the continued growth in appropriations, what we really need is an

agency by agency, program by program, line by line look at the federal budget. I submit that in-depth

examination below.

Department of Education (-$107 billion). Reagan once called the Department of Education, Jimmy

Carters bureaucratic boondoggle, and set out to eliminate it. He did this for good reason: since 1965,

the federal government has invested well over $2 trillion in federal education dollars, ramped up

significantly with the advent of the Department of Education under President Carter and again underthe No Child Left Behind legislation under President Bush. Student achievement, however, has

remained stagnant despite all of this spending. We should abolish the federal Department of Education

immediately and restore power to the States each of which has its own Department of Education.

Programs to be Eliminated (78): Elementary and Secondary Education Programs (68 total);

Special Education and Rehabilitation; Student Aid, Postsecondary Education; Vocational and


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Adult Education; Innovation and Improvement; English Language Acquisition; Education

Sciences; Safe and Drug-Free Schools; Departmental Management.

Department of Energy (-$34.2 billion). Another bureaucratic boondoggle attributable to Jimmy Carter,

the Department of Energy was created to regulate oil prices and help us eliminate our dependence on

foreign oil. The entire department has been a colossal failure. Much worse, this agency is crushing

American energy producers with undue regulatory burdens, investing in fledgling companies unworthy

of private investment like Solyndra, and misallocating capital by picking winners and losers in energy

markets.

Western PA has felt the weight of the Department of Energys heavy hand. If the federal government

gets out of the way, our region can again lead the world in energy production: coal, oil and, of course,

natural gas. The Department of Energy should be eliminated immediately.

Programs to be Eliminated (12): Energy Efficiency and Renewables; General Science; Vehicle

Technologies; Fossil Energy Research; Technology Loan Guarantee Programs; Nuclear Energy

Research; Power Marking Administrations; Electricity Research; Strategic Peteroleum Reserve;

Energy Information Administration; Energy Star; Office of Indian Energy.

Department of Housing and Urban Development (-$46.3 billion). This department contributed greatly

to the housing crisis and has done little to nothing to help Americans out of poverty. In fact, federal

housing has led to more crime and economic turmoil. We should abolish the Department of

Housing and Urban Development and restore state and local control and allow the free market to

work.

Programs to be Eliminated (23): Rental Assistance; Housing Finance; Public Housing; Native

American/Hawaiian Programs; Brownfields Economic Development Initiative; Capacity Building

for Community Development and Affordable Housing Grants program; Doctoral Dissertation

Research Grant program; General Research and Technology Activity program; HOME Investment

Partnerships Program; NeighborWorks America; Self-Help Homeowner Opportunity Program;

The University Community Fund; Rural Innovation Fund Program; Transformation Initiative:

Natural Experiments Grant Program; Transformation Initiative Research Grants: Demonstration

and Related Small Grants; Transformation Initiative Research Grants: Sustainable Community

Research Grant Program.Department of Commerce (-$9.26 billion). This Department includes a few useful functions within an

agency that is otherwise doing more harm than good in promoting domestic and internationalcommerce. The Census Bureau, Patent Office, and the International Trade Administration are all

appropriate functions of government and should be maintained, but can operate under the auspices of

various other agencies.

Programs to be Eliminated (14): Broadband Opportunities Program; Economic Development

Administration; International Trade Administration; Manufacturing Extension Partnership;

Technology Innovation Program; Pacific Salmon State Grants; Minority Business Development


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Agency; Capital Construction Fund Program; National Marine Aquaculture Initiative Sea

Grants; Fisheries Disaster Assistance; Fishing Capacity Reduction Program; Saltonstall-

Kennedy Grant Program; Habitat Restoration; Law Enforcement Program

Department of Defense (-$100 billion). Defense is one of the key functions of the federal

governmentone of the key enumerated powers in the United States Constitution. It is not acceptable

to slash dollars to our service members, important weapons programs, or other critical factors to our

military readiness. When the government is in charge of something, however, there will always be

waste, fraud, duplication and inefficiency. For too long, conservatives have been fighting for a top-line

number for defense spending rather than justifying every dollar were spending based on its value

toward keeping us safe.

Senator Tom Coburn outlined $1 trillion in defense budget reductions that return us to the level of

spending achieved just five years ago at the height of the Iraq surge. His plan achieves this savings

without reducing the size of our force orany major procurement or weapons modernization programs.

My plan implements Sen. Tom Coburns Back in Black Defense cuts in full.

Programs to be Eliminated (1): Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) Program.

Department of Interior (-$7 billion). Few Americans know what this department does, and when they

find out they may be alarmed that it manages one of every five acres of land in this country. The Office

of Management and Budget gives the Department of Interior terrible marks each year for their

mismanagement of taxpayer dollars. There are some functions at Interior worth maintaining, but we

can do much to spend dollars more efficiently, eliminate duplicative programs, and cut unnecessary

spending. We can cut this agencys funding in half easily without threatening its core functions.

Programs to be Eliminated (6): Cost Share Leveraging Program; Historic Preservation Programs;

National Parks 100th birthday; Mine clean-up funds for completed states; State and tribal

Wildlife grants

Department of Homeland Security (-$8 billion). Created in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks, the

Department of Homeland Security follows in a long tradition of well-intended federal agencies that

deliver poor outcomes. This agency does, however, implement core functions of the federal

government in connection to national defense preparedness. My plan finds significant savings by

privatizing the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and eliminating duplicative and unnecessary

programsparticularly many of the grant programs to state and local governments.

Programs to be Eliminated (15): Emergency Operation Centers; Intercity Bus Security Grant

Program; Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program; Metropolitan Medical Response System;

Citizens Corps Program; Drivers License Security Grant Program; Interoperability Emergency

Communications Grant Program; Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Rescue Grants;

Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grants; Boating Safety Financial Assistance Formula Grant;

National Fire Academy Fellowship Program; DHS Scholars and Fellows Educational Program;


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Office of Bombing Prevention; Domestic Nuclear Detection Office; Transportation Security

Administration

Department of Justice (-$5 billion). The Department of Justice (DOJ) serves an important role in

keeping the American people safe, but Congress has expanded the DOJs focus s ignificantly beyond its

original mission to include a myriad of duplicative and wasteful programs. By eliminating duplication,

rooting out waste and fraud, and reforming critical DOJ programs, my plan saves DOJ $5 billion annually.Programs to be Eliminated (9): Project Gunrunner; ATFs National Center for Explosives

Training and Research; National Gang Intelligence Center; National Gang Targeting,

Enforcement, and Coordination Center; ATF Violent Crime Reduction Program; State

Criminal Alien Assistance Program; Public Safety Benefits Program; Participation in the

World Anti-Doping Agency

Department of Health and Human Services (-$10 billion). The Department of Health and Human

Services represents fully one quarterof all federal outlays. While most of these outlays are on themandatory side, there are plenty of savings that we find within the conglomerate of HHS agencies.

Examples include the consolidation of public health agencies (collapsing the Substance Abuse and

Mental Health Services Administration into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and

reforming the Indian Health Service by moving those funds to the Bureau of Indian Affairs through the

Interior Department. The Title X family planning services funding, the program which funds Planned

Parenthood, should be eliminated completely. My plan cuts $10 billion from this department in 2013.

Programs to be Eliminated (29): CLASS Act, The Job Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals

program; The Rural Community Facilities program; The Community Economic Development

program (CED); Voting Access for Individuals with Disabilities grant program; Healthy MarriagePromotion and Responsible Fatherhood Grants; Public Health Emergency Preparedness Grant

Program; World Trade Center Health Monitoring Program; Academic Centers for Public Health

Preparedness and Advanced Practice Centers; Academic Centers for Public Health Preparedness

and Advanced Practice Centers; Healthy Communities; Genomics; Built Environment; The Rural

Access to Emergency Devices program; The Adolescent & Young Adult Health Program; The

Safety Promotion and Injury & Violence Prevention program; Children's Hospital Graduate

Medical Education Payment Program; Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Program; Education

Research Centers Program (ERCs); Denali Commission; Preventive Health and Health Services

Block Grant (PHHSBG); Allied Health and Other Disciplines and Patient Navigators; Racial and

Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program and the Healthy Communitiesprogram; Title X Family Planning; Abstinence Education Block Grant; The Adolescent Family Life

program; The Personal Responsibility Education program; State Health Access Program; Teen

Pregnancy Prevention program

Department of Transportation (-$15 billion). The Department of Transportation has annual funding of

roughly $77 billion: $55 billion from gas taxes and $22 billion from appropriations. Despite all of this

funding, we have deficient and dilapidated roads and bridges across the country and the Government


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Accountability Office (GAO) excoriates the agency for its ineffectiveness and waste. Infrastructure

spending is the Constitutional and practical responsibility of state and local governments. My plan

eliminates unnecessary spending, and allows states to opt out of federal transportation programs and

keep their tax dollars. These reforms will save $20 billion in 2013.

Programs to be Eliminated (17): Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Support;Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction; New Starts; Paul S. Sarbanes

Transit in Parks Program; The Rail-line Relocation Grants Program; High Speed Rail; Denali

Access System Program; Appalachian Development Highway System; Regional Funding

Accounts; Federal Lands Highways Program; Recreational Trails Program; National Scenic

Byways Program; Safe Routes to School; National Historic Covered Bridge Preservation

Program; Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program; Highway Earmark Accounts;

Enhancement Grants

Department of Agriculture (-$10 billion). The Department of Agriculture boasts a rate of one employee

for every nine farmers and provides farm subsidies in excess of 25 billion each year. The agency isriddled with duplicative nutrition programs, misguided and nonsensical subsidies, and ineffective

programs. My plan cuts $10 billion from the departments current budget.

Programs to be Eliminated (12): International Forest Program; Food for Peace Title II Grants;

Eliminate Agency; Environmental Literacy Programs; Forest Stewardship Program; Grants to

American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Organizations for Nutrition and Supportive

Services; Summer Seamless option of the National School Lunch Program; FAS international

training and education programs within the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education;

Rural Housing Service; Rural Utilities Service; Rural Business Coop. Service; Rural Development

Department of State and Foreign Aid (-$20 billion). The State Department serves a critical function in

American government, but there is reason to question the effectiveness and desirability of many of the

departments programs. Our foreign aid budget performs valuable diplomatic and humanitarian work

around the world. On the other hand, we spend too much of the budget trying to buy off uncooperative

allies and even outright enemies. For instance, Egypt, Pakistan, and the Palestine Liberation

Organization (PLO) are all recipients of American foreign aid, despite often working against our interests

in the Middle East. Moreover, we spend billions annually helping countries from whom we borrow

billions from every year like China and Russia. We are hundreds of billions in debt to China and continue

to borrow, yet we send over a billion dollars back to treat Chinese HIV/AIDS patients.

We can also save $4 billion by eliminating voluntary U.S. payments to the United Nations, which no

longer represents the interests of the United States or our allies. Long-term, the United States shouldpursue complete withdrawal from the U.N.

With a $15 trillion national debt, we should focus scarce resources on domestic priorities. Reducing

foreign aid and cutting ineffective programs at the State Department will save 20 billion dollars next

year.


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Programs to be Eliminated (5): National Endowment for Democracy; International Clean

Technology Fund; Voluntary Funding for the United Nations and the UN Tax Equalization

Fund; The Asia Foundation; East-West Center

Environmental Protection Agency (-$10.1 billion). A modern creation (1970), the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) is a $10 billion economical albatross. The spending programs run by the EPAare merely grant programs intended to promote state initiatives to protect the environment. Why dont

we just let the states keep their money? More problematically, the EPA enforces dozens of

environmental laws and onerous regulations. There is little to no evidence to suggest the EPA is making

our environment any cleaner, and the free market remains the most powerful tool to maintaining our

environment. The EPA should be abolished immediately and we ought to restore control of

environmental regulation to state and local governments. This will save the federal government over

$10 billion in 2013.

Programs to be Eliminated (9): Environmental Justice (EJ) program; Great Lakes Restoration

Initiative (GLRI); Diesel Emission Reduction Program; Airshed Grant Program; Homeland Security

Activities; International Programs; State Revolving Loan Appropriations; SunWise Program

Department of Labor (-$3 billion). Formed with the intention of improving working conditions and

expanding employment opportunities for American workers, the Department of Labor is now a largely

ineffective and often counterproductive bureaucracy of over 17,200 employees. Congress should

immediately defund the job-killing National Labor Relations Board and cut duplicative job training

programs from the Department of Labor. My plan makes cuts at the Department of Labor totaling $3

billion in 2013.

Programs to be Eliminated (2): Workforce Investment Act; Wagner-Peyser Activities

Department of the Treasury (-$5 billion). The Treasury Department budget is mainly devoted to the

Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Included in this budget are significant tax reforms that will require adramatically reduced role for the IRS, as over two-thirds of the IRSs current budget is listed as

enforcement. Additionally, the exposure and elimination of waste in both the IRS specifically and the

Treasury Department more broadly will improve management of taxpayer dollars.

Miscellaneous (-$50 billion). Some other programs that should receive serious scrutiny, consideration,

or outright elimination, are the Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage laws, freezing federal pay, reducing federal

travel, banning union projects, selling federal assets, reducing the federal workforce, selling vast tracts

of federal lands, reforming payment errors in federal programs, and selling the equity ownership of

automobile and financial institutions. An implementation of these reforms would net the American

taxpayer 50 billion dollars in savings in 2013.


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0.00

100.00

200.00

300.00

400.00

500.00

600.00

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

CutsinBillions($)

Total Discretionary CutsAll Other Discretionary Cuts

Treasury

Labor

Environmental Protection Agency

Agriculture

Transportation

Health and Human Services

Justice

Homeland Security

State and Foreign Aid

Interior

Defense

Commerce

Housing and Urban Development

Energy

Education


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TABLE 3: Discretionary Spending Cuts (in Billions)

Department 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 20222012-2013

Education 107.10 104.96 105.33 71.30 108.24 109.85 112.71 115.33 117.98 121.31 1,074.11

Energy 34.20 33.52 33.64 34.20 34.56 35.08 35.99 36.83 37.67 38.74 354.42Housing andUrbanDevelopment 46.30 45.37 45.54 46.30 46.79 47.49 48.73 49.86 51.00 52.44 479.82

Commerce 9.26 9.07 9.11 9.26 9.36 9.50 9.75 9.97 10.20 10.49 95.96

Defense 100.00 98.00 98.35 100.00 101.07 102.56 105.24 107.68 110.16 113.27 1,036.33

Interior 7.00 6.86 6.88 7.00 7.07 7.18 7.37 7.54 7.71 7.93 72.54State andForeign Aid 20.00 19.60 19.67 20.00 20.21 20.51 21.05 21.54 22.03 22.65 207.27HomelandSecurity 8.00 7.84 7.87 8.00 8.09 8.21 8.42 8.61 8.81 9.06 82.91

Justice 5.00 4.90 4.92 5.00 5.05 5.13 5.26 5.38 5.51 5.66 51.82Health and

Human Services 10.00 9.80 9.84 10.00 10.11 10.26 10.52 10.77 11.02 11.33 103.63Transportation 15.00 14.70 14.75 15.00 15.16 15.38 15.79 16.15 16.52 16.99 155.45

Agriculture 10.00 9.80 9.84 10.00 10.11 10.26 10.52 10.77 11.02 11.33 103.63EnvironmentalProtectionAgency 10.00 9.80 9.84 10.00 10.11 10.26 10.52 10.77 11.02 11.33 103.63

Labor 3.00 2.94 2.95 3.00 3.03 3.08 3.16 3.23 3.30 3.40 31.09

Treasury 5.00 4.90 4.92 5.00 5.05 5.13 5.26 5.38 5.51 5.66 51.82All OtherDiscretionaryCuts 50.00 49.00 49.18 50.00 50.53 51.28 52.62 53.84 55.08 56.64 518.16

Total Cuts 439.86 431.06 432.60 404.06 444.55 451.14 462.91 473.65 484.54 498.23 4,522.60

Add: TransfersfromMandatory*

Medicaid/SCHIPBlock Grants -291.00 -299.73 -308.72 -317.98 -327.52 -337.35 -347.47 -357.89 -368.63 -379.69 -3335.99FoodStamp/ChildNutrition BlockGrants -50.00 -50.00 -50.00 -50.00 -50.00 -50.00 -50.00 -50.00 -50.00 -50.00 -500.00

TotalDiscretionarySavings afterMandatory

Transfers 98.86 81.33 73.88 36.08 67.02 63.79 65.44 65.75 65.91 68.54 686.61

CBO Baseline 1,219.65 1,196.05 1,199.52 1,219.46 1,233.46 1,250.91 1,283.56 1,313.33 1,343.53 1,381.50 12,640.97NewDiscretionaryBudget 1,120.79 1,114.72 1,125.64 1,183.38 1,166.43 1,187.13 1,218.12 1,247.58 1,277.62 1,312.96 11,954.36

*See mandatory savings information in this plan, which includes the transfer of four mandatory programs to the discretionary

budget.


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Keep Our Promises: Entitlement Reforms

While discretionary spending is out of control in America, mandatory spending programs pose the more

serious risk to our economy. According to the National Center for Policy Analysis, Medicare and Social

Security have $107 trillion in unfunded liabilitiespromises made by politicians with no means of paying

for them. Add in Medicaid, which is exploding state budgets and bankrupting the federal government,

and the fiscal calamity facing our country is clear.

Medicare is our most pressing problem, since it faces bankruptcy in the near future. Even by

conservative estimates, Medicare owes $36 trillion more than the program will collect over the next 75

years. Common-sense reforms to Social Security will make sure the program is solvent and available to

future generations. Putting Medicaid on solid financial footing will save money for both the federal

government and the states.

One thing is clear: we cannot keep our promises to seniors without fixing these programs. Fortunately,

reforming these programs will not only save money, but will also provide seniors and low-incomeAmericans with higher quality benefits at a lower cost.

Reforming Medicare: Congressional Health Care for Seniors. During my time working for Sen. Paul, I

had the distinct honor and privilege of working with him to design Medicare reform that provided better

health care for our seniors at a lower cost to them personally. Sen. Paul has announced his intention to

introduce the legislation this month and the savings are expected to be dramatic: $1.6 trillion over 10

years.

Sen. Pauls proposal enrolls all seniors into the same health care plan as their Member of Congress and

other federal employeesthe Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan (FEHBP). Seniors deserve the

best health care in America, not the second rate Medicare system.

Individual seniors will save thousands of dollars out of their pocket each year (up to $3,500), but the

benefits they receive will be more generous. Competition and choice can provide better benefits at a

lower costa win-win scenario for both seniors and taxpayers.

Prominent economist Walton Francis explains, FEHBP has outperformed original Medicare in every

dimension of its performance. It has better benefits, better service, catastrophic limits on what enrollees

must pay, and far better premium cost control.

The Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan provides millions of federal employees and their dependents

a bevy of health care options. The government pays roughly three-quarters of the total costs of

insurance plans chosen by individual beneficiaries based on their needs and preferences.

There are currently over 250 plans participating in FEHBP, including 20 nationwide plans. The Office of

Personnel and Management (OPM) enforces reasonable minimal standards for plans, ensures the health

plans are fiscally solvent, and enforces rules for consumer protection. Furthermore, there are no price

controls, standard benefits, or dictates and mandates placed on doctors and hospitals.


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FEHBP is not, however, an unfettered marketplace. Plans must accept any enrollee, cannot deny

coverage to an individual for any reason, and all individuals within a plan pay the same premium

regardless of their health status or pre-existing conditions.

Sen. Pauls proposal protects seniors without placing new mandates on insurance plans. Moreover, Sen.

Pauls proposal makes it easier for new insurance plans to enter the market to compete for seniors

businesseven allowing employers to continue covering their retirees by accepting the governments

contribution to the plan.

In order to ensure low premiums and prevent plans from cherry-picking patients, Sen. Paul proposes a

new high-risk pool for the highest cost patients within the FEHBP. The federal government reimburses

insurance plans for enrolling the costliest five percent of patients. This arrangement keeps premiums

low while allowing high-risk patients to get the same high-quality health care as every other enrollee

federal employees and seniors alike.

Other important reforms included in this plan are means-testing benefits, requiring high-income seniors

to pay for a greater portion of their health care services, and slowly raising the Medicare retirement age

up to age 70 and indexing it to longevity.

Finally, this proposal forever protects seniors interests by aligning them with self-interested politicians.

Whats good for the goose is good for the gander.

Obamacare Repeal and Health Reform. Obamacare is a disaster for patients, doctors and taxpayers. IT

MUST BE REPEALED IMMEDIATELY.

Unfortunately, few Americans understand we did nothave a free market health care system in America

prior to Obamacare. Through Medicare, Medicaid, and a skewed taxation system for health insurance,

the government dictates greater than 60 percent of health care dollars in this country. Real reform

means fixing Medicare and Medicaid, as my plan proposes, and reforming health care for those under

65.

In particular, we must fix the tax treatment of health care in order to empower individuals to purchase

the health care services that best meet their individual needs. Rather than subsidize large employer-

based health insurance plans, individuals should receive tax benefits for the purchase of health care

services of all kinds, and of their choosing. This can be accomplished through plans like the Cato

Institutes Large HSA idea, which provides a larger tax deduction for health care services much like

Sen. DeMints proposals and the tax credit plans put forward by Congressman Ryan and Senator Coburn.

My Turning the Lights Back On plan fixes the distortions by scrapping the entire tax code and

implementing a flat tax (see the tax reform section).

Reforming the tax code is the most important step, but unleashing the market requires additional

reforms. Individuals should be able to buy health care from any state in the countrywhich is what the

Constitution requires under the enumerated power to regulate commerce between the states.

Furthermore, federal mandates on health insurance companies must be lifted to allow companies to


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innovate. Under the tax plan in my budget, health savings accounts (HSAs) will flourish given their

status as a savings vehicle. Real health reform must include mechanisms like nimble HSAs that allow

individuals to save more of their own money for their health care needs while having more skin in the

game for their health care decisions.

Social Security. Americans live 14 years longer, on average, than when Social Security was first passed

under President Roosevelt. Yet, they retire three years earlierthan they did then. The average

American spends 20 years in retirement, so its no secret why the program is running out of money.

Many reforms are necessary to fix Social Security, but given our debt problems, the most practical

solutions include putting the program on sound financial footing by slowly increasing the retirement

age, limiting benefits to upper-income seniors, and tweaking the formulas that determine the speed at

which Social Security benefits grow.

We find additional savings by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in the Social Security Disability

Insurance (SSDI) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Both programs have

lost their program integrity and are no longer targeted to those most in need. Sen. Tom Coburns Back

in Black Plan details a number of common-sense reforms that restore these programs to their original

intent and limit their outright waste and fraud.

Unleashing the States to Fix Medicaid and Childrens Health Insurance. The Medicaid program is

currently a disaster both in quality of care and in program costs. Why? All of the incentives are

misplaced. States spend money on superfluous or non-essential care in order to get a more generous

federal match. Since every state does it, however, the Medicaid program consumes a larger portion of

both state and federal budgets. In the end, we pay more money for rapidly deteriorating quality of

health care.

Patients on Medicaid cant find a doctor40 percent of physicians wont even accept a Medicaid

patient. Theres plenty of evidence to suggest Medicaid patients suffer worse outcomes than those who

have no health insurance at all. Something needs to change if we are to effectively and efficiently care

for those in need.

The solution is to unfetter states from all the strings attached to federal funding, and tailor Medicaid

programs best meets the needs ofthe states citizens. Medicaid block grants prove the best means of

accomplishing this.

At present, Medicaid spending grows exponentially year-to-year. My proposal transfers Medicaid

spending from mandatory spending to the discretionary budget, and projects total Medicaid spending to

grow by a fixed rate each year.

Some will argue that this will lead to less accessibility to health care for poor and disabled Americans.

This is patently false. Medicaid costs are increasing dramatically because of the federal dictates coming

from Washington, D.C. My proposal allows states to re-determine eligibility so they can focus benefits


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on those most in need, means-test benefits in such a way to provide more assistance to those most in

need (and less assistance to those who need less help), and tailor services to focus on the most pressing

health care needs of their states citizens.

Allowing States to Control Food Stamps and Child Nutrition. The Food Stamp program is out of control,

with more than 40 million Americans on the rolls. The Child Nutrition program is experiencing similar

increases in spending. We can consolidate these programs into a single low-income nutrition program

run by the states. With the financial flexibility to target these programs to those most in need, states

can do a lot more with less. We can save $50 billion per year by block-granting these programs as

discretionary spending.

Table 2: Mandatory Savings (in billions)

Mandatory Savings

Medicare 143 154 156 151 169 160 14 174 183 192 1630

Social Security 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.7 1.8 2 2.1 2.1 2.5 17.5

UnemploymentInsuranceReform 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 180

TANF/WelfareReform 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 14

*Medicaid 281 330 370 407 432 456 487 522 564 605 4453

*SCHIP 10 11 12 11 6 6 6 6 6 6 78

**Food Stamps 82 80 80 80 78 77 75 74 73 73 772

**ChildNutrition 21 22 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 247Savings on

Interest 105 112 118 123 129 131 134 144 153 162 1316

TOTAL 555.82 617.107 660.555 691.884 730.186 743.507 765.022 824.553 876.305 926.549 7391.488*Medicaid is transferred to Discretionary Spending to better budget for the needs of the program. Total Savings for Medicaid/SCHIP are

$1.1 trillion.

**The Food Stamps and Child Nutrition programs are consolidated into a single program and transferred to Discretionary Spending tobetter budget for the needs of the programs. Total Savings are $$519 billion


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Grow the Economy: Tax and Regulatory Reform

Taxes. Our current tax code is unacceptable. It discourages productive activity, savings, and investment.

Our tax system distorts the free enterprise system and encourages the misallocation of capital. The

average American cannot possibly grapple with U.S. tax code without hiring an expensive tax attorney.

The best solution is to follow a tried and true tax structure implemented with great success by dozens of

countries worldwide: a flat tax only on income for consumption. The new tax rate would replace the

payroll tax, death tax, capital gains tax and gift tax. Under my plan, all individuals, families and

businesses would be taxed at the low, flat rate of 17 percent.

My flat tax only taxes individual income for consumptionwhich means long-term savings like

retirement plans are not taxed until the money is withdrawn for consumption. For businesses, only

profits are taxedincome used to invest in the business or compensate employees is exempt.

Senators Rand Paul, Jim DeMint and Mike Lee recently unveiled a plan like mine to save our country.

The tax reform I pursue is identical to their proposed flat tax. They include a standard deduction of

$32,320 for each family and personal exemptions of $6,530 for each dependent. After the deduction, all

income is taxed at the flat rate of 17 percent. Thus, the tax code remains progressive despite the flat

rate and elimination of tax brackets.

Freeing American individuals and businesses from double, triple and even quadruple taxation is the pro-

growth tax policy our economy needs. Statically scored, it produces less revenue than the current tax

code$4.5 billion in total tax cutsbut is paid for by the massive spending cuts in my plan. In reality,

however, lowering rates and creating a more pro-growth economic climate will likely lead to more

revenue to the federal government by broadening the number of individuals participating in the

economy and paying taxes.


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Regulations. This plan immediately repeals onerous regulations by repealing the underlying statutes of

Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, Sarbanes-Oxley, and the new FDA Food Safety Regulations. My plan also

includes a full repeal of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In addition, my plan enacts

procedural reforms to prevent unelected bureaucrats from circumventing Congress to put in place new

regulations. Furthermore, my plan calls for Congressional review of any costly regulation, patterned

after the regulatory reform detailed in Sen. Rand Pauls recent budget plan .

My plan also prevents the Federal Reserve from regulating our money supply without accountability.

What is more, I propose a full audit of the Federal Reserve Bank and the legalization of the use of gold

and silver as alternative currencies. These reforms will keep the Federal Reserve in check and ensure

sound money.

This plan does notinclude savings or additional revenue to the federal government as the result of less

regulation and sound currency, but there is an expectation that both the federal government and the

private sector will realize massive savings and increases in revenue as government shrinks and the

economy grows.

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2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

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Budget Comparison: CBO v. TLBO

CBO Revenues

CBO Outlays

TLBO Revenues

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Conclusion: The Shining City on a Hill

Americans are ready to replace career politicians who do not have the courage or the conviction to put

our country on a path to fiscal prosperity. They are ready to replace elected officials who put their next

election before the next generation. The American people are rallying around candidates who provide

honest solutions to our countrys fiscal woes.

Nothing short of returning to our founding principles of limited government, pro-growth economics, and

honest governance will fix our countrys problems:. These are the ideas America is built on, and as I

listen to the people of Western Pennsylvania, these are the ideas I must stand on.

Many pundits and political opponents will attempt to pick apart my plan. My question to them is

simple: where is theirplan to save our country?

Our country can remain the bright shining city on a hill it has always been. It will require hard work and

honesty from our politicians. I have faith the American people will elect the best people to right the

ship. Our future demands it.

Feinberg Economic Plan

Documents

Transcript of Feinberg Economic Plan