Cut the Nonsense, Invest in the Nation: The Common Sense Way to Budget

A smart, balanced budget is always the goal.

If Congress were running a household, it would be bankrupt, homeless, and still buying luxury furniture on credit.

That’s how bad Washington’s budgeting has become—and the American middle class is footing the bill for it all.

Here’s my approach:

Stop taxing us to death.

Stop wasting what we already send.

Start investing in what actually strengthens the country.

I believe in cutting taxes across the board, especially on work, savings, and investment. Lower taxes create jobs, stimulate growth, and put power back into the hands of families—not bureaucrats. That's common sense budgeting.

But tax cuts alone aren’t enough. We’ve got to get serious about where the money goes. Right now, too much of it goes to bloated agencies, foreign pet projects, and administrative bloat that has nothing to do with securing our nation or uplifting our people.

Here’s what budget reform should look like:

• Zero-based budgeting for all federal agencies. No more automatic increases. Every dollar must be justified from scratch.

  
  

• Mandatory ROI assessments for federal programs. If taxpayers aren’t getting results, the program is gone.

  
  

• A strict 10-year phaseout of all non-essential international spending, unless renewed by supermajority vote.

  
  

• Earmark transparency laws, so Americans can see which member of Congress requested each special interest payout.

I also believe that a great nation takes care of its most vulnerable. That’s why my plan protects programs for our elderly, infirm, and mentally ill, ensuring that Americans who built this country don’t have to spend their final years begging for dignity. I believe we should have social assistance, but that it should be limited by both duration and amount received.

And when we do spend—let it be on what matters:

• Energy infrastructure that powers our future.

  
  

• Defense upgrades that protect our homeland.

  
  

• Border security that keeps us safe.

  
  

• Vocational programs that prepare our young people for the workforce—not just test-taking.

We’ve got to stop pretending that debt doesn’t matter and start acting like grownups. It’s not compassionate to bankrupt the country. It’s not patriotic to waste taxpayer dollars. And it’s not conservative to ignore the bottom line.

If you can’t balance a checkbook (yes, I still remember checkbooks), you shouldn’t be touching the federal purse.

I’m running to make Washington responsible again. If you’re ready to cut the nonsense and invest in the nation, follow me on X @SholdonDaniels and support our campaign to restore fiscal sanity.