Politics

Tea party debt commission: Our plan balances budget in four years

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
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Pass the tea party plan and the country’s budget will be balanced by 2015 — just four years from now — according to the organizers of the “Tea Party Debt Commission” — a project of tea party-aligned FreedomWorks.

The commission seeks to influence the super committee in Congress that is racing to come up with a plan to cut at least $1.2 trillion from the national debt.

A copy of the final plan obtained by The Daily Caller calls for massive downsizing of the government without tax hikes, including eliminating the Department of Commerce, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Energy and the Department of Education.

The plan is being presented at a Capitol Hill hearing Tuesday with the help of Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee. The hope from organizers is that lawmakers will consider it as they come up with their own plan.

“Imagine a plan that slows the numbers on the National Debt Clock to a crawl, and then brings them to a halt, and then shifts them into reverse,” the final document says.

The plans also calls for repealing President Obama’s health care law and ending farm subsidies. Student loans and foreign aid would also be axed under the plan. All of the president’s “czar” positions would be eliminated and there would be no more “green technology” initiatives.

The plan also doesn’t raise the retirement age, cut benefits or increase payroll taxes for Social Security, though it allows workers under 30 to set aside money into personal retirement accounts. Seniors on Medicare are also given the ability to opt into the health care plan used by members of Congress.

The effort has spanned over the last four months. FreedomWorks said the results come from thousands of activists who participated in field hearings and an online surveys. The group says the plan would save $9.7 trillion over the next 10 years.

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