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In 2011, our national debt was about $15 trillion, and the U.S. Treasury spent over $450 billion on interest. Washington was printing money it didn’t have, buying its way out of yet another financial crisis and sending brand-new, taxpayer-funded subsidies to health insurance companies through Obamacare. It was clear then that this massive level of spending was not sustainable.
It was in this moment of explosive deficit spending that a new generation of conservative leaders—myself included—rode into Congress on a mandate from the American people to restore fiscal sanity and financial freedom. I left my medical practice to stand for public office because I would not let our children and grandchildren be bankrupted by reckless politicians.
The fight for fiscal responsibility continues, and I plan to force a vote on my latest balanced budget proposal—the Six Penny Plan—later this year.
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But I regret to inform you that Congress has completely lost the plot.
Under the Six Penny Plan, Congress needs to find a six-percentage-point cut each year for five years. After that, once the budget is balanced, spending can increase based on the additional revenue from economic growth.
The national debt has now surpassed $40 trillion. Congress now spends over $1 trillion on interest every year. Congress spends more on interest than on national defense. This enormous debt is contributing to rising interest rates and inflation, hurting every American. It’s a blinking red warning light—just as bright and red as the ink on our budget documents.
Congress’ answer to this growing fiscal bomb? More of the same. Congress passed a continuing resolution earlier this summer to extend the status quo and will debate another extension before the end of this year.
It doesn’t have to be this way. When Congress takes up government funding later this year, it can pass my Six Penny Plan, which will balance the budget within five years. (Douglas Rissing)
The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. When Congress takes up government funding later this year, it can pass my Six Penny Plan, which will balance the budget within five years.
$50 TRILLION IN DEBT IS NOT A DISTANT THREAT. AMERICA IS SPEEDING TOWARDS IT
No one can say he or she supports a balanced budget while voting against the only balanced budget that came up for a vote. No more empty promises. No more excuses. No more games.
The Six Penny Plan doesn’t prescribe any particular program or budget category to be cut—it even specifically exempts Social Security from cuts. The Six Penny Plan simply sets a maximum spending level. What Congress wants to do within that maximum is up for debate. This budget reflects the basic questions of priorities many Americans have confronted at different points in their lives, whether because of unexpected expenses or a loss of income: Which expenses can Congress keep, and which can Congress cut? Under the Six Penny Plan, Congress needs to find a six percent cut each year for five years. After that, once the budget is balanced, spending can increase based on the additional revenue from economic growth.
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Interestingly, when I first proposed what became the Penny Plan in 2018, Congress would not have had to find any cuts, but merely work within a spending freeze for five years. Its inaction then is only making the job harder now.
In subsequent years, it became the Penny Plan when it required a one percent cut, then it became the “Pennies Plan,” and today it is the Six Penny Plan because it requires us to find six pennies out of every dollar.
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Kicking the can down the road has been standard procedure in Congress for too long. Lawmakers have treated the debt like someone else’s problem, to be dealt with some other day in the future. Well, the future has arrived. Every year that Congress does nothing only adds fuel to the debt bomb and increases the risk of a bigger explosion down the road.
It’s also time to call inaction on the debt what it is: a vote to increase the hidden inflation tax on everyone; a willful decision to let inflation wreak havoc on our cost of living. Inaction is unacceptable.
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The Six Penny Plan is the answer. The good news is that, when it was voted on in 2024 and 2025, the Six Penny Plan was supported by a majority of Senate Republicans. Because a budget resolution needs only a majority vote to pass, rather than a supermajority, Senate Republicans have the numbers to pass the Six Penny Plan.
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In other words, this is the moment. Support for the Six Penny Plan has been building, and there should be enough votes. Let’s show that conservatives mean what we say and can follow through on our promises to balance the budget.
Let’s pass the Six Penny Plan.
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