Introducing the tea-party budget

In fact, the Tea Party Budget is designed to balance the federal budget in less than 10 years, reduce federal spending to 18 percent of gross domestic product (down from 24 percent), reduce the national debt and cut federal spending by at least $9 trillion over 10 years — all without raising taxes…

Instead, this budget process began by asking the American people what they wanted cut. The commission began its grass-roots outreach with a crowd-sourced online poll, allowing voters to list their top targets for cuts. Nearly 50,000 Americans to-date have filled out this poll. Field hearings were held around the country, so thousands of local activists could present their ideas directly to the commission.

While the plan’s specifics are to be released Thursday, the broad measures leading to the most significant cuts include the repeal of Obamacare; eliminating four Cabinet departments – Energy, Education, Commerce and Housing and Urban Development; eliminating most foreign aid; ending blank-check federal guarantees of student loans and farm subsidies; a shift to personal retirement accounts to save Social Security for young workers, and passage of a balanced budget amendment with an enforceable spending cap.