This isn’t a particularly new or shocking revelation. Reckless fiscal policy has led to record-high inflation and added trillions of dollars to the country’s national debt. The precarious situation is all but ignored by many of the country’s politicians, with America’s legislators promoting policy and engaging in spending as if the government can print money on demand without consequence. This fiscal irresponsibility has become one of the greatest long-term threats to national security.

With no end to this dangerous spending in sight, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) last week announced a proposal that he could balance the budget within five years. Paul’s “Six Penny Plan” is arguably a viable solution to the national debt and the looming financial crisis. It’s a logical solution that politicians on both sides of the aisle should embrace. 

“Seven years ago, we could balance our budget with a freeze in spending without cutting anything,” Paul said in a press release announcing his plan. “Since then, our national debt has skyrocketed to over $35 trillion with $6.6 trillion just in the past four years. Americans across the nation are struggling to make ends meet while their government recklessly spends and fuels the inflation crisis.” 

“The greatest threat to our national security is our national debt, and we are now in a situation that a simple penny, two, three, or even a five pennies per-dollar reduction is insufficient to balance our budget,” the senator said. “It requires six. We cannot keep ignoring this problem at the expense of taxpayers, and my budget will put our nation on track to solve this crisis that Congress created.”

Unfortunately, the national debt and the problems it could cause in the future have been largely forgotten about by the public, and they have also been largely ignored by Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. However, despite its seemingly contemporary political irrelevance, fiscal responsibility remains vital for the country. Paul’s proposal is a winning strategy on this topic.

Furthermore, Paul elaborated on some of the horrifying problems related to the national debt and how it will eventually hamper the country. 

Paul’s release specified that in less than half a year, between February and June, the Congressional Budget Office reported the government added $540 billion to the national debt. Perhaps equally harrowing was the revelation that the nation’s interest payments on the debt are larger than the country’s entire budget for national defense. 

Furthermore, with a total amount of over $35 trillion, the country’s debt is “nearly double the amount of total bank deposits” in the country, Paul’s release noted. This means that, hypothetically, if every citizen were forced to pay the government every bit of money one had saved in their bank accounts, it “would only cover half of the government’s debt.” 

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Suffice it to say that our national debt is a serious problem. At the crux of Paul’s proposal is a resolution that would rein in government spending by cutting “six pennies off every dollar projected to be spent in the next five fiscal years,” according to the Kentucky senator’s press release. Moreover, the plan would reduce spending “by $329 billion in the first year.” Spending would continue to decrease at an annual rate of 6% until the fifth year. Then, government spending would proportionally increase “with the pace of revenues in the five years remaining.”

The senator’s plan provides a practical remedy to future financial difficulties primarily caused by the nation’s elected officials. Paul’s “Six Penny Plan” is a sagacious vision to resolve reckless government spending and ensure the nation’s sustainability. It’s a commonsense plan that offers a much-needed solution for looming financial hardships. It’s a proactive step for a reactionary issue. The senator’s plan should have bipartisan support if the country’s politicians are genuinely interested in preventing disaster instead of just talking about it.