In an op-ed at the Daily Caller, Republican presidential candidate Larry Elder offers his proposal for solving the problem of runaway government spending that is causing unsustainable national debt.
Elder argues that the national debt is nearly $32 trillion due to “outrageous” government spending that “surpasses $6 trillion” each year. He said the US federal government spends more money than the entire economies of Germany, Japan, or the UK.
To stop government spending, Elder argues that spending should be capped at 10 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and proposes imposing “real consequences” if lawmakers attempt to surpass that cap.
Arguing that the president and lawmakers have “no excuse” for spending “like there’s no tomorrow,” Elder writes that the only way to stop “the spending problem” is to have a “hard cap in place” that carries “repercussions” if it is ignored.
One repercussion Elder proposes is to deprive the president and every lawmaker in Congress of their “right to run for re-election in the next cycle.”
Elder notes that President Biden’s “ally” Warren Buffett supports this kind of plan, noting that the billionaire investor once said lawmakers should be ineligible to run for reelection if the budget deficit is more than 3 percent of the GDP.
Elder argues that such a proposal will prevent lawmakers to remain in power while not being accountable “for their disastrous decision-making.”
The GOP presidential candidate said that the country needs leaders who “recognize the gravity” of the problem with government spending and will “work to reduce the bloat of Big Government.”
He explains that while short-term spending cuts are necessary, they will not be enough, adding that government spending must be kept in check in the long term to ensure that the “government does not re-bloat.”
He said the only way to do that is to limit government spending to a fixed percentage of GDP “or else.”
Elder adds that if Congress refuses to hold lawmakers accountable, it must be done through an amendment to the Constitution.
