Every year millions of Americans make New Year’s resolutions. Following this age-old tradition, and to start 2008 off on the right foot, we have three resolutions that Congress and other Washington lawmakers should live by to make this a fiscally responsible, effective, and transparent year.

Keep Your Promises – With Congress’ approval rating as low as 22% in some polls, putting them only slightly ahead of Michael Vick, this is the one resolution they really need to keep.

Last year’s record was spotty at best. Lawmakers promised to cut earmarks in half and to disclose them online. By our estimate, Congress cut projects by only 26 percent from two years ago, and the spending bills still contain more than 11,000 earmarks. Lawmakers’ record on disclosing the projects was even spottier. The Senate didn’t even bother to disclose the promised information on earmarks at all, while the House released its earmark request letters but did not put them online as they had initially promised.

Lose Weight – Everyone knows someone whose resolution it is to lose weight. Congress needs to follow that lead, especially in an election year when there will be a lot of pressure to add heft to the federal budget. In 2007, efforts to slim down two major pieces of legislation, the Farm Bill and the massive water projects bill, were rejected. The Farm Bill isn’t done yet, so there is still hope for that one. We also know there will be emergency spending proposed for some predictable, budget-able, issues out there. Congress needs to push back from the table and just say no to big election year legislative honey pots.

Balance the books – By keeping previous promises for improved fiscal responsibility, Congress and the Administration can make 2008 one of the more fiscally sound years we have seen in some time. Congress must honor the promise to pay for all new spending and tax bills they pass this year. This is known as the pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rule – any spending increase or tax cut must also include a plan to pay for the new spending or replace the lost revenue. But in December, this promised reform was abandoned to quickly pass a provision to alleviate the impact of the alternative minimum tax (AMT) on millions of Americans.

It’s not that we shouldn’t deal with the impacts of the AMT, but we should also replace the hole it leaves in the budget. The AMT was passed in 1969 in response to a political firestorm generated by reports that 155 Americans making $200,000 or more did not pay any taxes at all. This inequity created more constituent mail than the Vietnam War. But, in a case of good intentions going awry, Congress neglected to index the AMT against inflation, so this year it would have taken a $50 billion bite from more than 20 million taxpayers. Instead Congress put a $50 billion hole in the budget by exempting the one year AMT patch from PAYGO.

The Administrations can help by keeping its promise to veto legislation that is bloated and overspends the budget. And here’s a novel idea: the President can put his mouth where the money is and direct federal agencies to ignore the earmark instructions Congress includes in the non-binding reports that accompany spending bills.

These are three simple, albeit ambitious, resolutions that we hope that the Congress and the Administration will keep in 2008. In an election year, it is vital our elected officials remain disciplined and don’t succumb to election year fever, and add even more to the already $9 trillion dollar federal debt.

For more information, contact Steve Ellis at (202)-546-8500 ext. 126 or steve [at] taxpayer.net