Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN), a businessman frustrated with Washington’s wasteful spending, introduced a Tuesday plan to bring the federal budget into balance over 10 years, what he considers an easy “chip shot” but one he expects to face stiff liberal opposition.
In an interview, the Republican told Secrets that his plan wouldn’t cut defense spending, Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security, and it would keep in place the 2017 Trump tax cuts.
It would target wasteful spending, programs that should have ended but have been allowed to continue, and tap unspent COVID-19 relief funds.
After 10 years, the budget would be in balance and the only pressure would be the interest on the federal debt.
“It’s getting to where we are not adding, and in year 10, we have a small surplus,” said the senator, one of a handful who regularly focuses on the budget.
Braun said his plan takes some pages from a previous blueprint pushed forward by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), which won 35 votes. That plan took six years to balance the budget.
“This budget balances, cuts $2 trillion in taxes over 10 years, and implements reforms that will turn our country back toward the values and principles that have made us the freest and most prosperous nation in history,” said Adam Brandon, the president of FreedomWorks.
“His plan would balance the budget and limit spending to GDP growth, a policy that would encourage lawmakers to focus on pro-growth policies like extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Braun’s budget also makes important reforms to strengthen budget enforcement and improve scorekeeping at the Congressional Budget Office,” said the National Taxpayers Union.
Braun is putting the finishing touches on his plan. Under Senate rules, any member can introduce budgets once top committees fail to file budget plans. He is hopeful for a Senate vote this week.
According to his office: “The Braun Budget balances expenses and revenues over 10 years and saves over $4.5 trillion — without raising taxes — by capping total spending and dialing it back to 17.5% of potential GDP (the 50-year rolling average of revenue, regardless of tax policy). The Budget moves non-entitlement, non-defense ‘mandatory’ spending back to the discretionary side of the ledger, and forces Congress to review government programs that have been on auto-pilot for years — and review the $432 billion worth of government programs that expired between 1980 and 2021.”
He expects no Democratic support and hopes he keeps GOP support by maintaining defense spending, tax cuts, and looking past cuts to key social and retirement spending. “Nobody wants to cut those,” he said.
Braun said that he had been frustrated by Washington’s lack of focus on basic budgeting.
“It’s the most frustrating thing. I was a Main Street entrepreneur with a little, little business, where you were the accountant, the maintenance person, you turn the lights on and off. Did that for 17 years. And then when we started scaling it from a one-location, 15-employee business, we have, like, 70 locations in 40 states,” said Braun of his business Meyer Distributing, a truck, RV, and Jeep parts firm.
“You don’t get there with the rigor of competition if you’re not fiscally responsible. And that means reinvest every penny, don’t build huge overheads that you can’t sustain through thick and thin, and probably the biggest thing that does most businesses in is they’re not aggressive enough on finding new revenues because those never stay put. You’ve got to be constantly out mining for new revenues. And here’s the sad thing in the federal government: The revenues are given to us each year. All we’ve got to do is figure out how to spend it wisely and not spend more than we take in,” said Braun.
