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Deficit, balanced‑budget ideas and spending priorities draw sharp contrasts
Summary
Burns promoted a 4% growth cap and zero‑base budgeting; Mudd called for targeted cuts, opposed deep Medicare reductions and urged protections for high‑priority programs delivering federal funds to Montana.
Federal spending, deficit reduction and budget rules were a recurring theme in the Billings debate, with Republican U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns promoting a “4% solution” to limit government growth and Democrat Jack Mudd arguing cuts must protect critical programs such as Medicare and local defense and research projects.
Burns described his zero‑baseline approach as an alternative to baseline budgeting: "If you could only allow the government to grow 4% a year based on previous year's expenditures ...…
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