Why Republicans Have Failed to Balance the Budget

The last Republican president to not add to the national debt was Calvin Coolidge.

The last Republican president to balance the federal budget was Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1960 and the last Republican Congress to do so was in 2001.

Over the last 50 years, Republicans have largely failed at fiscal responsibility despite our deficit hawkishness.

With that said, it’s important to understand how to balance the budget so we don’t fall into the trap of thinking that the way to do it is via tax hikes.

Priority #1

Republicans first budgetary priority should be to cut taxes in order to reduce federal revenue as a percentage of GDP.

If after a tax cut, federal revenue is still above 10% then that means it wasn’t cut enough. If we cut taxes a little then that could actually increase federal revenue, but as conservatives we shouldn’t want to see “tax cuts pay for themselves.”

If federal revenue falls below 10% then we can start to consider its ideal level (3% is the historical average), but since that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon due to the…