Re: 2nd Term Part VII: You May Like Your Doctor But You Can't Keep Her
It makes zero sense to propose a balanced budget that has no hope of getting passed. I'd prefer to deal in the world of reality instead of fantasy.
What the country needs to do is gradually bring down the deficit, and then if/when we get a surplus don't blow it on tax cuts for GOP campaign contributors under the talking point of "its the people's money". Its the people's debt too, and it can't be paid down with gimmicky tax policies.
So, if that has to be done piecemeal, so be it. Its not the way I would do it, but if I had all encompassing power over every living thing (great SNL skit w/Steve Martin) tax policy would be pretty far down my list. Score settling might be a bit higher.
The country could easily cut the annual deficit in half with some painless changes to existing law. Get rid of oil/AG/carried interest tax breaks, limit total deductions, allow Medicare to bargain for prescription drugs, tort reform, wind down war spending, etc. The rest can be taken care of with increased growth which is already happening. The Bush fiscal years were, in a word, ruinous. That doesn't turn around in a day, and if you try to do too much too quick you get the British economy, which is dead in the water.
Lastly, the mortgage analogy is an interesting one. The US has proven natural resouces reserves of many times what the total debt is. So, could you keep taking out a bigger mortgage year after year if you have 5 times the value of your house in other assets? To quote a popular conservative thinker, You Betcha! ;D
It makes zero sense to propose a balanced budget that has no hope of getting passed. I'd prefer to deal in the world of reality instead of fantasy.
What the country needs to do is gradually bring down the deficit, and then if/when we get a surplus don't blow it on tax cuts for GOP campaign contributors under the talking point of "its the people's money". Its the people's debt too, and it can't be paid down with gimmicky tax policies.
So, if that has to be done piecemeal, so be it. Its not the way I would do it, but if I had all encompassing power over every living thing (great SNL skit w/Steve Martin) tax policy would be pretty far down my list. Score settling might be a bit higher.
The country could easily cut the annual deficit in half with some painless changes to existing law. Get rid of oil/AG/carried interest tax breaks, limit total deductions, allow Medicare to bargain for prescription drugs, tort reform, wind down war spending, etc. The rest can be taken care of with increased growth which is already happening. The Bush fiscal years were, in a word, ruinous. That doesn't turn around in a day, and if you try to do too much too quick you get the British economy, which is dead in the water.
Lastly, the mortgage analogy is an interesting one. The US has proven natural resouces reserves of many times what the total debt is. So, could you keep taking out a bigger mortgage year after year if you have 5 times the value of your house in other assets? To quote a popular conservative thinker, You Betcha! ;D
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