Senators offer $4 trillion ‘Go Big’ deficit reduction plan to super committee

The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction is still struggling to meet its Nov. 23 deadline, but a lot of other lawmakers think they have the solution.

The latest suggestion comes from Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), none of whom is on the super committee. The trio, however, says it has a plan the bipartisan panel of 12 can borrow if it decides it wants to "go big."

How big? Paul, DeMint and Lee say their plan "includes real, sustainable spending cuts" that would come to more than $6 trillion over 10 years.

But since the super committee is in a bit of a time crunch, it doesn't have to worry about agreeing on all $6 trillion, say the new plan's creators.

"They need to only agree on any $4 trillion to go 'big,'" according to the Senators' statement announcing their proposal.

And if the official deficit reduction committee can't do that, then the members only need to agree to 25 percent of the Paul-DeMint-Lee cuts to meet the mandated goal of cutting $1.5 trillion from the U.S. deficit.

What to cut: The wide-ranging list of cuts proposed by the three GOP Senators includes items such as capping welfare programs and eliminating duplicative programs, as well as cuts to national security and the arts.

Got your calculators ready? Here's the full list of cuts and savings:

Click on image for larger view.

"The cuts are spread across the broad spectrum of federal intrusion into our lives and wallets, and everyone bears some share of the costs," say the Senators.

Now we wait over the next five days (including today's working hours) to see how bold the super committee wants to be.

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