Katie Britt: Withhold pay from Congress if it doesn’t pass a balanced budget

Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Katie Britt recently released a memo outlining how she would legislatively address issues relating to the national debt and the size of government as Alabama’s junior senator.

According to Britt, the national debt serves as an “existential crisis” for the United States.

“I wholeheartedly believe that the ballooning national debt – which recently crossed the $30 trillion threshold – is an existential crisis for our Republic,” advised Britt in the memo. “For years, politicians have shaken their fists about deficits and debt, only to do nothing when it came to actually implementing solutions and making tough decisions. Alabamians are wise to this all talk, no action mentality, which is why we need a proven, effective leader who is ready to hit the ground running on day one to tackle this generational challenge.”

Britt spoke to her former service as head of the Business Council of Alabama, asserting that she had altered the financial state of the organization by implementing conservative reforms.

“I know what it takes to balance a budget in business and at home, just as all hardworking Alabama families do,” added Britt.

In the memo, Britt went on to decry the progressive fiscal policies of the majority party, saying that congressional Democrats and the Biden administration are “acting like they’re dealing with Monopoly money.”

The following are proposed measures from Britt’s memo:

  • A constitutional amendment to mandate the federal government balances its budget every year, including language requiring a supermajority vote of the House and the Senate to ever raise taxes
  • A bill stripping Congress of their pay unless the budget is balanced
  • A bill eliminating the U.S. Department of Education
  • A bill to make permanent the individual tax cuts and extend the expanded standard deduction contained in President Donald Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
  • A pro-growth tax reform bill reducing business tax rates, repealing the “Death Tax,” and making the expensing of capital assets permanent
  • A bill to repeal the state and local tax deduction
  • A bill to strengthen the rules in the 1974 Budget Act

Also included in Britt’s legislative priorities is the introduction of companion legislation to the “Unauthorized Spending Accountability Act” to eliminate unauthorized federal spending.

Britt also stated her intentions to support U.S. Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) “Five Penny Plan,” which would balance the federal budget in five years by reducing spending off the topline by 5.5 cents per dollar.

Britt called the expanding national debt a “moral failing” and advised that the United States’ fiscal state holds “grave economic and national security implications.”

“As the next U.S. Senator for Alabama, I will fight tirelessly to defend our Christian conservative values and preserve the American Dream for future generations,” vowed Britt. “The federal government’s reckless, wasteful spending has reached unprecedented levels, and we cannot lose sight of the fact that they are giving away money we do not have on the backs of our children and our children’s children. This is a moral failing and an existential crisis with grave economic and national security implications. It’s time to bring some Alabama common sense to Washington and hold Congress’ feet to the fire – if they don’t balance the budget, they shouldn’t get paid.”

Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL