Gary Johnson - Debt, Deficit, Spending, and the Size of Government
Last Updated: Dec 06, 2011
Summary
Governor Johnson has stated that since the federal government is borrowing 43 cents of every dollar it spends, it must reduce it's size by 43% to come in line with reality. He has proposed a three pronged plan to accomplish this task:
Balance the budget
End excessive spending, bloated stimulus programs, unnecessary farm subsidies, and earmarks.
Reassess the role of the federal government and identify responsibilities that can be met more efficiently by the private sector.
Recognize that you can't have limited government at home, but big government abroad.
Entitlement Reform
Identify and implement common-sense cost savings to place Medicare on a path toward long-term solvency.
Block grant Medicare and Medicaid funds to the states, allowing them to innovate, find efficiencies and provide better service at lower cost.
Repeal ObamaCare, as well as the failed Medicare prescription drug benefit.
Fix Social Security by changing the escalator from being based on wage growth to inflation. It's time for Social Security to reflect today's realities without breaking trust with retirees.
Audit the Federal Reserve
Republican Liberty Caucus Interview
In January of 2010, Governor Johnson was interviewed by the Republican Liberty Caucus and asked about spending and the size of the federal government.
L: To what degree is it possible to cut the federal budget? How would you go about cutting?
J: I faced the same situation in New Mexico as the president faces. I could have cut big government in New Mexico drastically and no one would have noticed. (That is, these government employees produce no value for the economy.) The spending train is out of control. But the Democratic legislature fought me and the courts handed down adverse rulings. The legislature was 2 to 1 Democratic. Common sense has gone out the window. First you have to stop the spending. The time is ripe for doing so in Washington, and it’s accomplishable.
We are a bankrupt nation. We’re not taking care of our own house. Unlike the generation before us, interest and principle payments are due now. The enormous budget deficits will lead to inflation and an ever weaker dollar.
Fox News / Google Debate
On September 22, 2011 Governor Johnson participated in the Fox News / Google debate. He stated that he would veto any legislation that spent more than the government took in each year. He pledged to sign only a balanced budget in 2013.
BAIER: OK, we got to the full answer there at the end. Governor Johnson, same question to you about the 10th amendment. With this added, you are an outspoken libertarian. What makes you a better choice for libertarian Republicans than Congressman Paul?
FORMER GOV. GARY JOHNSON, R-N.M.: I'm not going to presume to make that assumption, but I would like to say that I do bring a unique perspective to this stage. I started a one-man handyman business in Albuquerque in 1974 and grew it to over 1,000 employees. I have run for two political offices in my life: governor of New Mexico and reelection. I promise to submit a balanced budget to congress in the year 2013. I promise to veto legislation where expenditures exceed revenue. And if anybody doubts my willingness to veto bills, I think I vetoed more bills than any governor in the history of the United States. I think I vetoed more bills than all the other governors in the country combined.
Add to that, throwing out the entire federal tax system and replacing it with a consumption tax, the fair tax, which would absolutely reboot the American economy because it does away with the corporate tax to create tens of millions of jobs in this country.
2012 Presidential Campaign Website Statements
The Economy and Taxes
Americans are more concerned than ever before about the future of our economy, and those concerns are well-founded. As a nation, we simply can't afford to continue borrowing 43 cents out of every dollar we spend. Balancing the budget will mean making some serious changes in Washington, but these will be the corrections America needs to remain a free, prosperous, and secure nation.
The U.S. must adopt 3 approaches:
1 Cut Spending
THIS RECESSION HAS FORCED FAMILIES AND BUSINESSES across America to make hard choices and limit their expenditures. We must now expect our elected officials to make the tough calls that will keep our government on a sustainable path moving forward. We must restrain spending across the board:
Revise the terms of entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, which to bankrupt the nation's future.
Eliminate the costly and ineffective military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan; limit defense spending to actions that truly protect the United States.
Stop spending on the fiscal stimulus, transportation, energy, housing, and all other special interests. The U.S. must restrain spending across the board.
2 Cut Taxes
THE U.S. TAX SYSTEM IMPOSES AN ENORMOUS toll on productivity through high marginal rates, absurd complexity, loopholes for the well-connected, and incentives for wasteful decisions. The government must lower the tax burden to stimulate the economy.
Eliminate punitive taxation of savings and investment.
Simplify the tax code; stop using it to reward special interests and control behavior.
Eliminate the corporate income tax so that America will once again be a great place to start a business.
3 Reduce Federal Involvement in the Economy
MUCH FEDERAL INTERVENTION IS A PAYOUT TO special interests or counterproductive meddling that stifles competition, innovation, and growth.
We should:
Reject auto and banking bailouts, state bailouts, corporate welfare, cap-and-trade, card check, and the mountain of regulation that protects special interests rather than benefiting consumers or the economy.
Restrict Federal Reserve policy to maintaining price stability, not bailing out financial firms or propping up the housing sector.
Eliminate government support of Fannie and Freddie.
Reduce or eliminate federal involvement in education; let states expand successful reforms such as vouchers and charter schools.
Legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana, rather than wasting money on an expensive and futile prohibition.
Eliminate needless barriers to free trade and make it easier for would-be legal immigrants to apply for work visas
SPENDING AND THE DEFICIT
Government spends too much because it does too much. Unchecked deficits are the single greatest threat to our national security. Unless we take significant steps soon, our federal debt will equal the entire economic production of the United States.
We should start by reassessing the role of the federal government, and always asking the question: Should the government be doing this in the first place?
We must act now to:
1 BALANCE THE BUDGET
THE U.S. IS BORROWING OR PRINTING MORE than 40 cents of every dollar the government spends today. The math is simple: Federal spending must be cut not by millions or billions, but by trillions. And it must be done today.
It's time to:
End excessive spending, bloated stimulus programs, unnecessary farm subsidies, and earmarks.
Reassess the role of the federal government and identify responsibilities that can be met more efficiently by the private sector.
Recognize that you can't have limited government at home, but big government abroad.
2 ENACT RESPONSIBLE ENTITLEMENT REFORM
MOST PEOPLE IN WASHINGTON SEEM TO THINK that we can control spending and balance the budget without reforming Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. This is lunacy.
Identify and implement common-sense cost savings to place Medicare on a path toward long-term solvency.
Block grant Medicare and Medicaid funds to the states, allowing them to innovate, find efficiencies and provide better service at lower cost.
Repeal ObamaCare, as well as the failed Medicare prescription drug benefit.
Fix Social Security by changing the escalator from being based on wage growth to inflation. It's time for Social Security to reflect today's realities without breaking trust with retirees.
3 AUDIT THE FEDERAL RESERVE
THE FEDERAL RESERVE SHOULD BE TRANSPARENT and its actions held to the same level of scrutiny as any other federal department.
The American people deserve to know the extent to which the Fed has purchased private assets at home and abroad.
Many Americans have become interested in the Federal Reserve in recent years. America's representatives in Washington, D.C. need to also become a lot more interested in how this government institution affects the American economy.
The role and the activities of the Federal Reserve are long overdue for examination, reassessment, and ultimately, thoughtful reform. Can the Federal Reserve pursue both stable prices and full employment, or does its currency manipulation cause malinvestment, inflation, and prolonged unemployment?
Conduct an audit to provide true transparency of the Federal Reserve's lending practices.
Establish clear Congressional oversight.
Get the Federal Reserve out of the business of printing money and buying debt through quantitative easing.
