Gingrich to Outline Path for Returning to a Balanced Budget
Atlanta, GA - As reports emerge that the so-called Super Committee on deficit reduction is at an impasse with just nine days to go until the November 23 deadline, presidential candidate Newt Gingrich will outline today, in remarks given to GuideOne Insurance in Des Moines, Iowa, a path back to the balanced budgets Gingrich helped engineer as Speaker.
The strategy he presents will not be guided by tax increases, but instead through government reform and increased revenues through new energy development and economic growth.
Recall that Gingrich predicted the failure of the Super-Committee during the August GOP presidential debate in Ames, IA, when he called it “one of the dumbest ideas to come out of Washington in my lifetime.”
Some specific ideas Newt will discuss include:
Block Granting Means-Tested Welfare Programs to the States
Block granting Medicaid and other means-tested welfare programs to the states could save up to $3.25 trillion for the federal government and $1.4 trillion for the states over the next decade. Under a block grant program, each state can focus on designing assistance programs to low-income families that are best tailored to local needs.
New Revenue from Oil and Natural Gas Development and Opening Up Federal Lands for Development
Virginia Senators have proposed opening areas of their state to oil and natural gas drilling. The new exploration could lead to as much as 15,000 new American jobs and as much as $3.2 billion to the local economy.
Virginia is not alone. Many states, such as Alaska, have vast tracts of unused federal land that could be opened for development. Each one is a potential new source of revenue for the federal government, all while reducing the amount of money we send abroad to regimes that wish the United States harm.
A study released by Wood Mackenzie notes that increasing access to American oil and natural gas could bring in over $800 billion in new government revenues by 2030.
Reforming the FDA, Investing in New Research
In the 21st Century Contract with America Gingrich outlines his plan to reform the FDA to expedite the time it takes a medical breakthrough to reach a patient, as well as giving a new emphasis to researching and understanding how the human brain works.
Gingrich will outline the dramatic change needed in how the U.S. government structures research spending that will lead to treatments and cures for diseases like Alzheimer's, autism, Parkinson's, mental health and other conditions that knowledge of the brain will help solve. Independent estimates find the that the combined public and private cost of Alzheimer's alone will reach $20 trillion dollars over the next four decades. Making investments today that could delay the onset of the disease by only five years could save between $5 and 10 trillion in both private and public spending between now and 2050.
$5 Trillion Over Ten Years: Lean Six Sigma
Lean Six Sigma is a management technique utilized by companies like Motorola and Boeing to streamline and improve efficiency in their manufacturing processes. If applied across the entire federal government, some estimate it could save $500 billion a year or $5 trillion over a ten-year period.
A properly focused Lean Six Sigma effort could reorient government to act in ways that would help balance the budget, grow our economy, accelerate job creation, and make America the most competitive country in the world.
Fraud in Medicare and Medicaid
The Center for Health Transformation estimates there is between $70 and $120 billion in fraud annually in Medicare and Medicaid. Step one: the federal government needs to move from a paper-based system to an electronic one, and implement private-sector fraud detection programs. By employing fraud detection techniques utilized by credit card companies, we could save between $700 billion and $1.2 trillion in the next ten years.
Note: Gingrich is scheduled to give remarks at GuideOne Insurance today at 11am CT. The event is taking place at 1111 Ashworth Road, Des Moines, IA.
