Eliminate deficient spending (i.e. spending more that you take in).  This is at the heart of the Fed's money-printing machine thinking.

There's also dark money: i.e. funds for secret programs that even Congress is not allowed to know how much it is because that might allow someone to infer what's being done with it.

Talk about utterly unchecked power!  With all this secrecy and government incited censorship, how are the citizen of a free nation suppose to make informed choices? 

"By the People" indeed!

Step 1 - Congress delegates the power of setting tax rates to an independent body.

Step 2 - Independent body is made up of accountants, actuaries, and economists.

Step 3 - Independent body devises the mathematical calculation for tax rates. Within a certain level of GDP deficit on a net present value factor. Tax rates are automated. Some consideration for the economic cycle, rates auto lower during recession and rise during recoveries. Providing an auto gas/brake as needed without political interference.

Step 4 - Congress argues and passes the bills on how to spend the money for the country for what is important. Guns vs butter. If they spend to much, we, the current taxpayers begin to feel the pain now and can vote accordingly. Future generations will not feel the brunt of our lack of responsibility for our actions.

Step 5 - Congress is held accountable on a semi-real time basis (every 2 years) by the voters for the choices they make. You can't spend and not tax. You must debate what is important to the majority of the people. Debate and compromise,

Step 6 - Problem solved Utopia breaks out.

Step 7 - Constant review of the process to make sure no one is gaming the system. New problem found? Repeat fix.

On GDP growth, here's the inflation adjusted graph (also adjusted by population)

You can see that once you take inflation and population growth out, it's pretty linear.

However, it's even worse than you might guess since Federal spending is part of GDP and we know that has greatly increased, especially in the last 8 years.  In fact, once nearly 1 million jobs were quietly adjusted out of the last year's inflated monthly reports --- almost all the remaining jobs added were federal.

Not bad Andrew!  Have you heard Warren Buffet's solution? 

“I could end the deficit in five minutes. You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP all sitting members of congress are ineligible for reelection.”