House measure to reduce federal debt by 9% by end of 2009
April 1st, 2009 | by mbhunter |Wow, this sure is a breath of fresh air. Congress has begun to move away from bailout mode toward balanced-books mode.
Representative Jared Solmssen (Dem., Minn.) authored the Federal Debt Reduction Act of 2009, which has as its heart the ambitious goal of shaving nearly $1 trillion off of the $11 trillion US federal debt by the end of calendar year 2009.
Details have yet to be fully ironed out but a major component of the reduction will come in the form of taxpayer relief. “In the interest of reducing the burden on our grandchildren,” Solmssen said on the steps of the Capitol, “we’re enlisting our generation to pay it down now. We expect broad bipartisan support for this measure, and sometime in August, 2009, each taxpayer who filed a Federal form 1040 will receive a bill for their share of the trillion dollars.”
While the exact amount will depend on the number of 1040s filed, the current estimate for the debt paydown is “somewhere between $12,000 and $13,000″ for each taxpayer. Taxpayers will have until December 15th to pay the bill. Accompanying the bill will be a fairly substantial booklet that outlines a number of ways that taxpayers can tighten their belts to raise the funds to pay the bill.
“The debt is owed to ourselves. It’s time to begin paying ourselves back,” Solmssen concluded.
(Thanks to Louis Friend for the e-mail tip.)
7 Responses to “House measure to reduce federal debt by 9% by end of 2009”
By SJ on Apr 1, 2009 | Reply
Oh mannn that’s pretty awesome! And here I was thinking they’d never ever be responsible!!
Tho, what happens to dependents? Will there be a reverse exemption?
Man, at the beginning of the new quarter too!
By Money Beagle on Apr 1, 2009 | Reply
LOL, wow the ahem, first of April posts are coming fast and furious. Great post!
By John on Apr 1, 2009 | Reply
First thought is, wow!
Second thought is, how in the world am I going to pay $25k (wife and I) by year’s end.
I’m just thankful that Louis Friend has got my back.
By Ron@TheWisdomJournal on Apr 1, 2009 | Reply
“Debt Reducing Politician” is an oxymoron … with particular emphasis on moron.
This would be funny if it weren’t so serious
By shorty on Apr 2, 2009 | Reply
Louis Friend? Anagram of iron sulfide, aka “fool’s gold”? “Silence of the Lambs” reference?
Who is Jared Solmssen?
By Johanne on Apr 3, 2009 | Reply
People really take April Fool’s day seriously.
Although, debt reduction should really be a priority. Unfortunately, our country is on “spending” mode.
By mbhunter on Apr 3, 2009 | Reply
Shorty, very good! Was wondering if anyone would mention that they got that reference.
Jared Solmssen is no one in particular. I got the last name from a guy who was in my class at college. Was looking for something vaguely Scandinavian for show.