Key Vote YES on the Paul Amendment #1019 to the CJS, Agriculture, Interior, and T-HUD Appropriations Minibus, H.R. 3055

On behalf of FreedomWorks’ activist community, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to vote YES on the Paul Amendment #1019 to the CJS, Agriculture, Interior, and T-HUD Appropriations Minibus, H.R. 3055. This amendment would require the amount appropriated for Fiscal Year 2020 under H.R. 3055 to be reduced by two percent from the amount appropriated for the same purposes in Fiscal Year 2019.

In the same vein as his Pennies Plan Balanced Budget, Senator Paul’s amendment would essentially cut two cents for every dollar spent in Fiscal Year 2019. If the full plan were to be employed across the entirety of on-budget federal spending for five years, the federal budget would balance. Although this amendment only applies to a portion of this on-budget spending, it is important to fight for spending cuts wherever they are possible.

According to the Congressional Budget Office’s January 2019 baseline, the projected growth of federal spending over the next ten years, will create nearly $11.6 trillion in new debt. The share of the debt held by the public will grow from 79.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in FY 2020 to 92.7 percent in FY 2029. This type of irresponsible “budgeting” is dangerous and unsustainable.

Additionally, anybody who argues that our national debt is not a result of spending too much but of taxing too little is being disingenuous. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the federal budget deficit for FY 2019 was $984 billion, $24 billion more than the CBO projected in August. Revenues were up by 4 percent in 2019, but outlays were up by 8 percent. Clearly, Congress doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem.

For these reasons, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to vote YES on the Paul Amendment #1019 to H.R. 3055. FreedomWorks will count the vote for the resolution on our 2019 Congressional Scorecard. The scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the FreedomFighter Award, which recognizes Members of the House and Senate who consistently vote to support economic freedom and individual liberty.

Sincerely, Adam Brandon, President, FreedomWorks