What They’re Saying About TPPF’s Responsible American Budget

The Texas Public Policy Foundation recently released the Responsible American Budget, a plan for the federal government to limit the out-of-control spending that threatens the prosperity of future generations. The key component of the proposal imposes a successful spending growth formula that has kept the budget in states like Texas from spending more than its taxpayers can afford. 

The Responsible American Budget has received high praise from members of Congress, top economists, state policymakers, and experts from across the country:   
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• Dr. Arthur B. Laffer, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient: “Government spending is taxation, and we cannot spend and tax our way into prosperity. The Responsible American Budget is a terrific way to rein in this government waste by imposing fiscal limitations on the profligate spenders in Washington.”
• U.S. Senator Mike Braun: “I ran a business for 37 years before running for Senate, and I can tell you that spending in Washington, D.C. is just as out of control as you might think. The Responsible American Budget is a good framework to throw the brakes on this runaway train before it derails our economy.” 
• U.S. Representative Chip Roy: “Right now the American people are hurting because out-of-control spending has set off inflation across the board. Meanwhile, we’re hurdling toward $30 trillion in debt with no end in sight. That’s why the work of Dr. Vance Ginn and my friends at TPPF is critical. The Responsible American Budget would be a solid step in the right direction to provide a clear, measurable threshold to rein in Washington’s fiscal insanity.”
• Texas State Representative Matt Schaefer: “It’s time to make big spending bad again, which is what the Responsible American Budget will help do as a guide to effectively restraining federal government spending. This is something that fiscal conservatives ought to recall and re-emphasize. This preserves freedom and provides more economic opportunities when more money remains in the private sector.”
• Texas State Representative Tan Parker: “Our Nation is on an unsustainable financial path, and the burden we are imposing on the future generations of America’s children is unconscionable. A sound plan for the road ahead is needed now more than ever, and the common-sense ideas offered in the Responsible American Budget from the Texas Public Policy Foundation will help put America’s prosperity back on track.”
• The Honorable Jim DeMint, Chairman, Conservative Partnership Institute: “We are saddling our children and grandchildren with crippling debt that threatens to destroy their future unless we start taking serious steps like those outlined by TPPF to restore fiscal sanity in Washington.”
• Steve Moore, Economic Contributor, FreedomWorks: “Spending in D.C. is simply out of control, and we have to act now to stop it. Fiscal restraints like the Responsible American Budget will go a long way to preserving our freedom and unleashing prosperity.”
• Dr. John Merrifield, CoPI – vetfiscalrules.net, Professor of Economics, Emeritus: “The RAB concept, combined with well-crafted fiscal rules, provides the simple basis needed to pressure lawmakers into reining in spending growth and sustaining responsible approaches through multiple congresses and administrations.”
• Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform: “There has been success in reducing federal tax rates in recent years, which President Biden and congressional Democrats are now trying to undo. Where we’ve yet to make sufficient progress is reining in federal spending. With the Responsible American Budget, the Texas Public Policy Foundation has laid out plan to get federal spending under control.”
• Jonathan Williams, Chief Economist, American Legislative Exchange Council: “The destructive combination of excessive spending and the accumulation of massive new debt in Washington, D.C. cannot continue. It’s time to take some important lessons from our 50 states – the “laboratories of democracy” – and develop meaningful protections at the federal level to safeguard hardworking taxpayers across America.”
• Genevieve Collins, State Director, Americans for Prosperity—Texas: “Texas can teach Washington a thing or two when it comes to spending tax dollars wisely.  We urge Washington to pay attention to what we’re doing here in Texas: prioritizing spending, keeping the tax burden low on families, and proposing fiscally responsible budgeting rather than trillion-dollar bailouts.”
• Matthew Dickerson, Director of the Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget at The Heritage Foundation: “Even prior to the pandemic, the federal budget was growing unsustainably, threatening America’s prosperity. The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Responsible American Budget highlights the need for spending restraint, which would ensure more opportunity for all Americans.”
• Bethany Marcum, Chief Executive Officer, Alaska Policy Forum: “America’s spending and debt trajectories are alarming, particularly in the last year. Congress should cap the growth of government spending by adopting the Responsible American Budget so that taxation can be limited, and the job creators in the private sector can grow our economy.”
• Kendall Cotton, President, Frontier Institute “If Montana can balance the budget and hold the line on spending growth in 2021, why can’t Washington? By adopting common-sense fiscal restraints like proposed in the Responsible American Budget, the federal government can start putting taxpayers first.”
• Dr. Orphe Divounguy, Chief Economist, Illinois Policy Institute: “There’s no incentive for the federal government to find savings in departments or to appropriately allocate dollars to projects that yield the biggest returns for Americans. The spending limits proposed in TPPF’s Responsible American Budget would likely induce more serious consideration over how taxpayer resources are allocated.”
• John Hendrickson, Policy Director, Tax Education Foundation of Iowa: “The Responsible American Budget is a blueprint for solving the dangerous out-of-control spending that has plagued the federal government for decades. The RAB demonstrates the need for fiscal responsibility, but also for a recommitment to the constitutional principle of federalism to follow the many states using prudent budgeting and fiscal rules to keep their budgets balanced.”
• Dr. Alexander W. Salter, Associate Professor of Economics, Rawls College of Business, Texas Tech University: “Federal government spending is out of control. The Responsible American Budget is an effective way to protect taxpayers while ensuring the public sector can get the resources it needs.”
• Manfred Wendt, Executive Director, Young Conservatives of Texas: “TPPF is once again leading the fight to ensure the financial future of all Texans by restraining the federal government’s out of control spending.”
• Dr. Charles F. Beauchamp, Associate Professor of Finance, Mississippi College: “For nearly 20 years Congress has abdicated its responsibility of passing a proper budget. The result has been runaway spending and unsustainable increases in the federal debt. It’s time to end the process of budgeting via continuing resolution by adopting a budgeting practice based on established metrics. TPPF’s Responsible American Budget presents a framework of metrics that can usher in much needed fiscal discipline to Washington. ​

Originally posted at TPPF.