Sunshine Sentinel

An effort to reduce federal spending spearheaded by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Tampa) aims to trim U.S. federal debt to less than 100% of the value of the year's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

According to a June 9 press release, the GOP Senator along with seven colleagues seek to enact the Federal Debt Emergency Control Act, demanding the Office of Management and Budget declare a federal debt emergency until the deficit is less than 100% of the GDP for the current fiscal year and any fiscal years thereafter where the debt rises again. 

"America is in a debt crisis," Scott said in the release. "Our nation is barreling toward $30 trillion in debt—an unimaginable $233,000 in debt for every family in America. It's a crisis caused by decades of wasteful and reckless spending by Washington politicians."

The Act would terminate any unobligated funding in the American Rescue Plan Act and previous stimulus bills, requiring the funds be immediately transferred back to the U.S. Treasury General Fund to be used for deficit reduction. 

"President Biden is continuing this way of governing by pushing for trillions in wasteful spending, raising the U.S. federal debt by 60% to $39 trillion and the debt-to-GDP ratio to 117% in 2030, the highest level ever recorded in American history," Scott continued. "Spending beyond our means has consequences. We’re already seeing rising inflation, which disproportionately hurts the poorest families, like mine growing up."

In an op-ed for The Hill, libertarian leaning Kristen Tate called the growing inflation “Biden’s hidden tax on working Americans.” 

According to Tate, there are two significant drivers of the current inflation: “Money printing by the Federal Reserve” and “massive government spending.”

Scott said that the Federal Debt Emergency Control Act is a solution to this issue and Washington's “out-of-control spending.

“This includes preventing Washington politicians from mindlessly spending by requiring that two-thirds of the Senate vote to increase the debt before approving any bill," Scott said. "I look forward to every fiscally responsible Republican and Democrat working with me to quickly pass the Federal Debt Emergency Control Act.”

CNN Business reports that consumer prices for the U.S. in April increased 4.2% from a year earlier, exceeding the 3.6% economists had expected. This represented the biggest 12-month increase since the peak of the financial crisis in 2008.

The consequence is increased costs of living everywhere for Americans. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI) reported notable upticks over the past 12 months on items particularly important to average American households: Food (+2.4 percent), Energy (+25.1 percent), and Used Vehicles (+21.0 percent). 

For this reason, economist Stephen Moore calls inflation “the most regressive tax out there.”

Scott is joined by Senators Ted Cruz, Mike Braun, Marsha Blackburn, Ron Johnson, John Barrasso, Joni Ernst and Tommy Tuberville in the introduction of the Act. It is endorsed by the National Taxpayers Union, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, Americans for Tax Reform, Americans for Prosperity, FreedomWorks, and the Club for Growth.