Congress again passed another bogus spending deal of $1.59 trillion in the name of averting a government shutdown. But no one is surprised, because crisis governing is the only way Congress knows how to function.
Every year seems to be the same. Congress can’t individually pass our nation’s 12 primary spending bills (for example, defense and homeland security), so they package those bills together, called an “omnibus,” forcing lawmakers to give a thumbs up or down.
It’s a terrible way to govern and Americans know it. But it’s not supposed to work this way. To oversimplify — Congress is required to put a budget together, then based on that, lawmakers are tasked with passing 12 spending bills every year.
Unfortunately, in the last five decades, Congress has only managed to do this four times — in 1977, 1989, 1995 and 1997. Albert Einstein sums it up nicely: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
So, what needs to change?
First, we should consider moving our national budget process from one year to two years. If we can’t govern properly within the budget guidelines clearly laid out, then adding an extra year would give Congress absolutely no excuse not to execute the budget process properly.
This would allow Congress to have more time to debate, budget wisely and review thoughtfully where Americans’ hard-earned dollars should go. In addition, it would provide more time for lawmakers to cut pork-barrel spending. The government wastes astronomical amounts of money every year and, at the bare minimum, we should be cutting low-hanging fruit.
For instance, in the ninth edition of Sen. Rand Paul’s Festivus Report, he reported $900 billion of government waste, which included the National Institutes of Health’s $2.7 million grant that went to study Russian cats walking on a treadmill and Barbies used as proof of ID for receiving COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program funds.
Second, Congress should have a legitimate debate on each of the 12 spending bills. Our defense budget should earn our time and attention. We should have a thorough debate on things like our defense needs, and we should assess how much to allocate to the Pentagon accordingly. Because the breadth of our government agencies is far too vast and intricate, we lose the opportunity to add good reforms and budget judiciously.
Far too often, congressional leadership throws massive bills together, over 1,000 pages, and allows no time for lawmakers to read them, let alone study or make changes to them. A functional nation does not govern this way.
Third, Congress should pass and abide by a balanced budget amendment. My former boss, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has been calling for one since he’s been in office. Our national debt has reached 100% of gross domestic product, or GDP, which means soon America will owe more on our debt than the annual production of our economy.
Lee has proposed an amendment which would “force Congress to balance its budget each year, limit spending to no more than 18% of GDP, and require a supermajority vote in both the House and Senate before raising taxes or increasing the nation’s debt ceiling.”
It’s common sense, really. Every family must balance their budget and adjust it accordingly. Why can’t Congress? For too long, Washington math has gotten the best of us. It’s certainly got us making senseless budget deals. A balanced budget amendment would put us on the right path and more importantly, it would eventually lead us to financial freedom.
Lawmakers in Washington have one simple job — to put together a national budget and stick to it. Relatively simple budget reforms could make all the difference for America’s future security, and the time is now to make them before it’s too late.
Carolyn Phippen is a candidate for Utah’s U.S. Senate. She is a wife and a mother of five boys, former staffer to Sen. Mike Lee, and resides in Draper, Utah.