In order to locate resources for needed investments in the context of deficit reduction, the federal government should create a bipartisan “Cut-to-Invest Commission” (CIC) to identify $200 billion over 10 years in budget savings, freeing up $100 billion for high-priority investments in industrial innovation, advanced industries, clean energy, infrastructure, education, and skills-building, and $100 billion for deficit reduction.
The new commission, modeled on the Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC), would identify spending programs and tax provisions that provide anti-competitive transfers to particular industries and recommend an annual package of appropriate reforms—including alternative investments in growth— to the president and Congress.
To ensure the dollars saved by the CIC are used only for the new investments designated by the CIC to receive those dollars, discretionary spending would be split into three categories: security spending, non-security spending, and a new category called investment spending.
