Rubio Spending Cuts

It is so rare that "The Party of No" gets some good press. This week Florida senatorial candidate Marco Rubio offered a few ideas worth noting. Here are a few points from his
12 Simple Ways To Cut Spending:

2. Reduce The Size Of The Federal Bureaucracy. To get spending under control, we must cut the size of the government workforce. To begin, we should freeze federal civilian workforce pay for one year and bring the pay scale back in line with market rates. In addition, we should reduce its’ size to 2008 levels. To accomplish this without disrupting critical government services, we should implement a policy of only hiring just one civilian employee for every two that leave government.
   
5. Ban All Earmarks. We should ban earmarks as Sen. Jim DeMint proposed in Congress this year. This could save $15-20 billion annually and stop Congress from using pork barrel projects to buy votes for things like the health care bill.
   
6. Pass A Constitutional Amendment Requiring Congress To Balance The Budget. A balanced budget amendment will force Congress to make cuts by eliminating spending, not raising taxes. If the Florida Legislature and almost every state in America is required by their state constitution to pass a balanced budget each year, so should Washington and Congress.
   
8. Put A “Check-Off” Box On The Federal Tax Form Allowing Taxpayers To Designate 10 Percent Of Their Existing Tax Bill To Go Toward Paying Down The National Debt. In the Senate, Marco will support proposals that would allow individuals and businesses to check-off an amount, up to 10 percent of their existing tax bill, to be dedicated to retiring the national debt. Congress would have to match the amount contributed by taxpayers from taxes they already owe with spending cuts. If not, a Gramm-Rudman style across-the-board reduction would occur, exempting certain critical spending such as Social Security and defense. This would help Congress to prioritize spending.
   
11. Give The President The Line-Item Veto. Marco believes the President should have the authority to make line-item vetoes to the federal budget. If most state governors have the power to veto unnecessary individual spending, so should the President.
    
12. Reform Entitlement Programs. Over the next 75 years, the present value of the total shortfall in Social Security and Medicare will exceed $45 trillion. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are going broke and will bankrupt our country. Benefits for those currently receiving them or those approaching retirement should not and will not change. But the truth is that for those who are younger, the programs will need to change or they will no longer exist when they themselves approach retirement age.
    

While we may not all agree on these ideas to cut spending, it is nice to see a current candidate for the senate with a proposal to that would help balance the budget.