McCain, Rubio, Flake Introduce the Debt Buy-Down Act of 2011
Press Release
U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Congressman Jeff Flake (AZ-06) today announced the reintroduction of the Debt Buy-Down Act of 2011, which would require the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to include a check-off on tax forms providing taxpayers the flexibility to voluntarily designate that up to 10 percent of their tax liability be put toward debt reduction -- this bill does not ask taxpayers to sign away any part of their potential federal refund.
Our national debt recently surpassed $14 trillion and it continues to grow rapidly every minute of every day, most recently it was reported that during the month of February our deficit topped $222.5 billion, a one-month record. Congress cannot sit idly by while saddling future generations of Americans with an ever-growing debt and deficit.
"If we are serious about our commitment to reduce our debt and eliminate our deficit -- then Congress needs to start making some serious decisions about our national priorities and we need to start now," said Senator John McCain.
"At a time when too many of our congressional leaders are unwilling to deal with our debt crisis, and our President is absent from the debate, this will give individual Americans the chance to deal with it themselves," said Senator Marco Rubio.
"If Congress won't put us back on a sustainable fiscal path, why not let taxpayers help?" said Congressman Jeff Flake.
Under the Debt Buy-Down Act of 2011, Congress would have an opportunity to pass spending reductions equal to the amount of debt reduction designated by taxpayers. If they fail to do so, the spending reductions are gained via an across-the-board cut in program spending levels -- exceptions for Social Security benefits, benefits for the uniformed services, and payments for net interest.
In order to ensure that those taxpayer-generated reductions in the debt are protected, the bill also requires an equal amount of permanent reductions in federal spending. And it establishes a trust fund in which to put those funds pending their use to retire debt obligations.
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