I'd like to see them do a freeze on spending at Year 0 levels, and then let inflation and economic expansion raise revenue until it greatly exceeds spending. Of course the minute anybody suggests everyone play by the same rules all the interest groups will scream that it's the end of the world unless they're excluded. Can you imagine what The Usual Suspects would say if we froze the entire defense budget, no exceptions, no sneaks, for, say, ten years? Oh sweet Jesus the horror of the "hollow army" -- we might only account for 33% of the world's military spending by the end of it.
{We should tabulate everything everybody gets as a benefit and say "for every $1 of
your benefits you give up, we'll also cut $1 of benefits that don't apply to you."
You can eliminate my wasteful spending if I can eliminate yours.
}
Math exercise for somebody with the data and time: take the last "normal" (pre-crash, let's say, I dunno, 2007) revenue and expenses. Freeze all
new spending at that baseline (you have to factor in all the existing commitments, so spending will still continue to rise for a long time, just not as fast as it would). Assume the economy grows at the average rate of the last 20 years. Compute future revenue against that base economy. Once you reach a balanced budget, every dollar of surplus goes to debt relief.
How long does it take to get to a balanced budget? (My guess: 12 years, mostly because of the explosion of commitments as the Boomers retire)
How long does it take to get to zero national debt? (My guess: 30 years)
Congress would of course never have the discipline to hold to a 30-year policy of fiscal responsibility unless we were taken over by Martians who didn't give us a choice, not only because Congress is lazy and stupid but because voters are even worse. No Senator of either party who suggested the plan would lose his re-election bid because he wouldn't even survive his primary.
