None of Rob Schwarzwalder’s four recommendations at the FRC Blog are radical; indeed, they’re common sense proposals dating back centuries and with a proven track record of success. But as we all know, common sense isn’t exactly rampant in Washington these days. So they’re worth repeating as often as possible.

For starters, let’s stop spending money like we have an endless supply and there’s no negative effect. We don’t and there is.

If you stop overspending, you will also ameliorate the growing fear of many investors that we are on the verge of monetizing the debt, simply printing worthless bills that will hyper-inflate our currency. Fiscal discipline, if dramatic and real, will energize the markets.

Step two is cutting taxes across the board, not just for businesses but for average American families. Let taxpayers keep more of their own money in their paychecks each week, and allow businesses keep more of their own profits to be reinvested to hire new employees and expand operations. Tax cuts also, contrary to popular belief, increase government revenue. JFK famously said:

Our true choice is not between tax reduction, on the one hand, and the avoidance of large Federal deficits on the other. It is increasingly clear that no matter what party is in power, so long as our national security needs keep rising, an economy hampered by restrictive tax rates will never produce enough revenues to balance our budget just as it will never produce enough jobs or enough profits… In short, it is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high today and tax revenues are too low and the soundest way to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the rates now.

That was Democratic president John F. Kennedy. And what happened as a result of his policy? Tax revenues increased by 62% from 1961 to 1968. Not only do tax cuts spur economic growth and lead to the creation of new jobs, but the cuts also increase revenues to the federal government which, low and behold, reduces the deficit.

The third part of the plan to create new jobs is pretty self evident: Congress should reduce the out-of-control federal regulatory apparatus that cripples the growth of business. Smart, reformed regulation is necessary. The regulatory system we have now is neither smart nor necessary.

The final step ties job creation into the healthcare debate:

End the government-mandated “health care reform” madness, which will further impose on our companies and employees growing fiscal, legal and regulatory burdens. Target those things in our system that don’t work and offer market-based incentives and tax reforms that will enable insurance providers to better serve the underserved.

Like I said, none of these proposals are new or radical. They’re common sense and have a proven track record. It’s clear that the current policies in Washington aren’t working, as we watch unemployment climb over double-digits and the federal deficit explode. It’s time to revert to common sense, free market principles.