According to Jewish tradition/regulations, as documented in the Book of Leviticus (found in the Torah and Old Testament), a year of Jubilee is to be observed every 50 years. Catholics celebrate a Holy Year of jubilee every 25 years. A jubilee year is a year of renewal, with forgiveness of debt, freedom from servitude, and a return to home.
That is what we need with our government budget and spending – a return to home.
Forgiveness of debts might not be possible, but we need a periodic level-set of our nation’s spending. A deep dive. A full, transparent, invasive, colonoscopy-esque audit of what every dollar of government spending is directed to. We cannot just keep rolling over trillions of dollars of spending year after year without periodically scrutinizing — and questioning — it to re-establish its value and legitimacy.
The efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is a good and worthwhile start. But we need to formalize it as a national – not partisan — effort and expectation.
With federal legislation – or as a Constitutional amendment, if necessary – we should codify a Government Spending Jubilee year. Every 12 years (four Presidential terms, two Senate terms, six Congressional terms) – regardless of what party holds power at the time — the federal budget goes to zero. The slate is wiped clean. It is level-set, and needs to be rebuilt from the bottom-up with as much transparency as possible. (There will be national security and defense considerations that must be accommodated).
Will this be a difficult endeavor? Will it be complicated? Will it be contentious and controversial? Absolutely. A jubilee renewal of government spending will not be easy, but it will be formalized and everyone will know it is coming. Planning can be done. Systems can be established. Will it take a lot of time of our elected officials, government bureaucrats, and their staffs? No question. But it will be the time very well spent.
It is time to establish a jubilee for the United States government.
Juggling Squirrel 