In the past few weeks the Republicans in the House have taken steps to try and rein in federal spending, and just in time. After agreeing to a Continuing Resolution, which will lower spending this year (although by how much is debatable), the House passed the Ryan Budget and has begun the process of markup in committee. While we applaud Congressman Ryan’s brave stance inlaying out a “Roadmap to Prosperity” there are still problems with the document from a Tea Party perspective.
1) It does get us to a balanced budget, but only over a generation, and judging from the Standard and Poor’s downgrade of our debt outlook to “Negative,” we may not have a generation to wait.
2) The Ryan Budget does not use the Constitution as a guide to decide what to fund. It establishes a funding level, and then cuts to meet that level.
I would like to suggest an e-book that would address these two deficiencies from a Tea Party perspective. The goal would be a document that is generated by members of the Tea Party and lays out the kind of government we expect and deserve, one that is vastly smaller and in line with Constitutional principles.
There are several excellent places to start: both Heritage and Cato have information and suggestions to aid discussion and debate. I would also suggest we show how we can go from the current budget to a Constitutional budget in eight years, or the length of two presidential terms. This will also serve as a good way to frame what we expect from those who want our votes for their party’s nomination. It might also become a blueprint and debate driver just as the Contract From America did in the 2010 cycle.
There is a tsunami of debt coming toward us. It may not be possible to stop, but its severity can be lessened, and we can show the world that we are capable of having a serious debate for serious times.
Our politicians are the creatures we have made them. They compromise our future because that is what we have taught them to do to curry our favor. The position we are in is therefore our fault as much as theirs. In that respect, they represented us too well. The American people however now have different expectations, because we are different people. The past two years have awoken in us the spirit of our Founders, and of Edmund Burke, who described society as a compact between the past, the present, and those yet unborn. It is a compact we now rise to defend. Perhaps we should not be surprised that politicians might not know what we expect and how far we are prepared to go. Perhaps we don’t know ourselves. If they are afraid to get out in front of the voters, then we must be the vanguard. If we do that, we may yet find that they are willing to run out in front of us and lead the parade once more, to Victory.
Scott S. Boston has been a local tea party leader in Ohio since the beginning of the Tea Party movement. You can contact him on Twitter at @scottsboston
