10 Point plan to Reduce the Federal Debt

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The TenOC 10 Point Plan to Reduce the Federal Debt:


Are you interested in a plan to stop the growth of the Federal Debt? If so please review the 10 point TenOC plan below. If you like it (or even if you do not like it) forward it with your comments to your email buddies, facebook friends, your talk show host, your congressman, tweet about it, bog about it, post it on your websites, and you are free to send or copy it to anyone else you can think of. We need to start an ACTIVE conversation about this (or some other) plan to reduce the federal debt.

What politician is willing to “step out in front” and LEAD with a plan?

Since we do not have any politician who are willing to “step out in front” and LEAD with a plan, the 10 point TenOC plan is a place to start from the “grassroots” of America. Many people are talking about the need to reduce the federal debt, but no one has a good plan to do so because they all want "someone else" to feel the "pain" of the actions necessary to reduce the federal debt. To miss-quote JFK, do not ask what handout or benefit you can take from the government, but ask how much you are willing to contribute to the government to continue to live in the BEST country in the world. For years, we all have been "milking" the government for all we could get. Now is the time we ALL need to feel the pain of reducing the debt. The 10 point TenOC debt reduction plan is designed to affect everyone. It should be a bold "take it all" plan – do not pick one point and reject a different point. One must NOT say I like this point (because it does not affect me too much) but I do not like a different point (because if affect me too much).

In our hearts, we all know that the ONLY way to stop the growth in the federal debt is to stop spending more money than the government receives. Thus, me must reduce government spending AND increase taxes. The plan is as simple as that.

One of the primarily reasons to reduce the federal debt is to simply reduce the amount of interest that the government pays out each year. This interest could (should) be better spent on other more worthwhile projects. In 2010, approximately 10% of the amount the federal government spent was spent on interest! This has got to stop – not increase as WE allow the debt to increase. If we do not take action soon, the government's "credit score" will go down and the interest rate charged the government to borrow money (from China and other countries) will increase drastically.

TenOC 10 Point Plan

All the changes listed below use January 1, 2011 as the starting point for the any reductions in spending or increase in income (taxes).

1. This plan will be in effect for 10 years unless a super-majority (2/3) of both houses of Congress votes to change the plan. This is necessary so that everyone (business, government, and the public as well as foreign governments) will know what to expect and can plan accordingly.

2. Repeal the so called "Bush" tax cuts and add a 10% surtax on the income tax due for everyone – business and individuals.

3. Almost one-half -- yes one-half (about 47%) -- of working Americans did not pay any income tax in 2010, and almost one-half of these got a credit (read that as a gift or reverse tax) from the people who did pay taxes. We need to expand the tax base to include all but 25% of the population. People and businesses in this expanded base would pay an income tax at a 10% rate without the above mention surtax.

4. Set the estate tax rates to 55% on estates larger than $10 million. Estates less than $10 million will be exempt from estate taxes. In 2011 estates are taxed at 35% on all amounts over $5 million.

5. Permanently reduce the number of ALL government employees (civil service, contract temporaries, and part-time) in all government departments by 10% from January 2011 headcount levels in the first year of the program with an additional 5% reduction in the second year of the program.

6. Permanently reduce the non-payroll expenditure budgets (expense, operating and capital equipment budgets) of all government departments by 10%. This reduction effects both on-budget and off-budget expenditures.

7. The above mentioned permanent reductions in the government budgets will stay in effect for the balance of the program. That is to say NO increase in either headcount or spending for the balance of the program. No increases to adjust for inflation except civil service employee salaries may be adjusted for inflation using the same inflation adjustment as Social Security uses. Thus, because of inflation, the program should continue to achieve yearly reductions in government spending of a few percent (the inflation rate) per year.

8. A $0.10 per gallon "energy" tax on all gasoline, diesel (including off-road diesel), jet fuel, and heating oil. Add a equivalent tax on natural gas, propane and coal. The second year of the program add an addition $0.10 per gallon tax (for a total of $0.20 per gallon) to this energy tax. This energy tax will be collected at the distributor or wholesale level.

9. A 10% "entertainment" tax on the price of all entertainment -- movies, sport events (except K - 12 school events), concerts, theme parks, cable and satellite TV, Internet connections, and the sale (or rental) of entertainment CD and DVD.

10. Set up a bipartisan commission (much like the military base closing commission) to suggest binding recommendations to "solve" the Social Security and Medicare problems. This commission would also study the long-term effects of the new government medical insurance plan and suggest changes (if any) to this plan.

This plan will affect everyone because every one of us is the cause of the problem. We cause the problem by "living" off the Federal Government for the last 70 plus years. IT IS NOW TIME FOR US TO "PAY UP".
 
Your plan is all tax and no cattle. It's time for the tics on the ass of society to pay up. I've been paying ever since I started working.

Let the greedy geezers take a cut in their SS payments. Cut the EPA back to 2008 levels - that is, repeal the 124% increase Obama gave it. Abolish the Department of Education. In fact, if you just repeal all of Obama's spending increases, we are 2/3 of the way to a balanced budget.




TenOC 10 Point Plan

All the changes listed below use January 1, 2011 as the starting point for the any reductions in spending or increase in income (taxes).

1. This plan will be in effect for 10 years unless a super-majority (2/3) of both houses of Congress votes to change the plan. This is necessary so that everyone (business, government, and the public as well as foreign governments) will know what to expect and can plan accordingly.

2. Repeal the so called "Bush" tax cuts and add a 10% surtax on the income tax due for everyone – business and individuals.

3. Almost one-half -- yes one-half (about 47%) -- of working Americans did not pay any income tax in 2010, and almost one-half of these got a credit (read that as a gift or reverse tax) from the people who did pay taxes. We need to expand the tax base to include all but 25% of the population. People and businesses in this expanded base would pay an income tax at a 10% rate without the above mention surtax.

4. Set the estate tax rates to 55% on estates larger than $10 million. Estates less than $10 million will be exempt from estate taxes. In 2011 estates are taxed at 35% on all amounts over $5 million.

5. Permanently reduce the number of ALL government employees (civil service, contract temporaries, and part-time) in all government departments by 10% from January 2011 headcount levels in the first year of the program with an additional 5% reduction in the second year of the program.

6. Permanently reduce the non-payroll expenditure budgets (expense, operating and capital equipment budgets) of all government departments by 10%. This reduction effects both on-budget and off-budget expenditures.

7. The above mentioned permanent reductions in the government budgets will stay in effect for the balance of the program. That is to say NO increase in either headcount or spending for the balance of the program. No increases to adjust for inflation except civil service employee salaries may be adjusted for inflation using the same inflation adjustment as Social Security uses. Thus, because of inflation, the program should continue to achieve yearly reductions in government spending of a few percent (the inflation rate) per year.

8. A $0.10 per gallon "energy" tax on all gasoline, diesel (including off-road diesel), jet fuel, and heating oil. Add a equivalent tax on natural gas, propane and coal. The second year of the program add an addition $0.10 per gallon tax (for a total of $0.20 per gallon) to this energy tax. This energy tax will be collected at the distributor or wholesale level.

9. A 10% "entertainment" tax on the price of all entertainment -- movies, sport events (except K - 12 school events), concerts, theme parks, cable and satellite TV, Internet connections, and the sale (or rental) of entertainment CD and DVD.

10. Set up a bipartisan commission (much like the military base closing commission) to suggest binding recommendations to "solve" the Social Security and Medicare problems. This commission would also study the long-term effects of the new government medical insurance plan and suggest changes (if any) to this plan.

This plan will affect everyone because every one of us is the cause of the problem. We cause the problem by "living" off the Federal Government for the last 70 plus years. IT IS NOW TIME FOR US TO "PAY UP".
 
Increasing revenue reduces the necessity of shrinking government. Once more money is coming in, spending goes up again. This has been tested over and over.
And increasing taxes in a recession is a really bad idea.
And what happened to obama's no tax pledge?
 
First, thanks for posting and welcome to the forum. Did you write this yourself or copy it from elsewhere? If it is someone else's words you should state who and where you got it from. If it's your own work, I appreciate the effort even if I don't agree with some of it.

Lots of stuff on the revenue side, not much on the entitlements or defense. Which is where the big bucks are. There are those who think increasing taxes at a time like this is a bad idea, to let the entire Bush tax cuts expire might be enough to put this country back into another recession. As perhaps would too much in the way of spending cuts all at once. It took awhile to get into this mess, we should be careful about not making the economy worse in our efforts to dig our way out.
 
The TenOC 10 Point Plan to Reduce the Federal Debt:


Are you interested in a plan to stop the growth of the Federal Debt? If so please review the 10 point TenOC plan below. If you like it (or even if you do not like it) forward it with your comments to your email buddies, facebook friends, your talk show host, your congressman, tweet about it, bog about it, post it on your websites, and you are free to send or copy it to anyone else you can think of. We need to start an ACTIVE conversation about this (or some other) plan to reduce the federal debt.

What politician is willing to “step out in front” and LEAD with a plan?

Since we do not have any politician who are willing to “step out in front” and LEAD with a plan, the 10 point TenOC plan is a place to start from the “grassroots” of America. Many people are talking about the need to reduce the federal debt, but no one has a good plan to do so because they all want "someone else" to feel the "pain" of the actions necessary to reduce the federal debt. To miss-quote JFK, do not ask what handout or benefit you can take from the government, but ask how much you are willing to contribute to the government to continue to live in the BEST country in the world. For years, we all have been "milking" the government for all we could get. Now is the time we ALL need to feel the pain of reducing the debt. The 10 point TenOC debt reduction plan is designed to affect everyone. It should be a bold "take it all" plan – do not pick one point and reject a different point. One must NOT say I like this point (because it does not affect me too much) but I do not like a different point (because if affect me too much).

In our hearts, we all know that the ONLY way to stop the growth in the federal debt is to stop spending more money than the government receives. Thus, me must reduce government spending AND increase taxes. The plan is as simple as that.

One of the primarily reasons to reduce the federal debt is to simply reduce the amount of interest that the government pays out each year. This interest could (should) be better spent on other more worthwhile projects. In 2010, approximately 10% of the amount the federal government spent was spent on interest! This has got to stop – not increase as WE allow the debt to increase. If we do not take action soon, the government's "credit score" will go down and the interest rate charged the government to borrow money (from China and other countries) will increase drastically.

TenOC 10 Point Plan

All the changes listed below use January 1, 2011 as the starting point for the any reductions in spending or increase in income (taxes).

1. This plan will be in effect for 10 years unless a super-majority (2/3) of both houses of Congress votes to change the plan. This is necessary so that everyone (business, government, and the public as well as foreign governments) will know what to expect and can plan accordingly.

2. Repeal the so called "Bush" tax cuts and add a 10% surtax on the income tax due for everyone – business and individuals.

3. Almost one-half -- yes one-half (about 47%) -- of working Americans did not pay any income tax in 2010, and almost one-half of these got a credit (read that as a gift or reverse tax) from the people who did pay taxes. We need to expand the tax base to include all but 25% of the population. People and businesses in this expanded base would pay an income tax at a 10% rate without the above mention surtax.

4. Set the estate tax rates to 55% on estates larger than $10 million. Estates less than $10 million will be exempt from estate taxes. In 2011 estates are taxed at 35% on all amounts over $5 million.

5. Permanently reduce the number of ALL government employees (civil service, contract temporaries, and part-time) in all government departments by 10% from January 2011 headcount levels in the first year of the program with an additional 5% reduction in the second year of the program.

6. Permanently reduce the non-payroll expenditure budgets (expense, operating and capital equipment budgets) of all government departments by 10%. This reduction effects both on-budget and off-budget expenditures.

7. The above mentioned permanent reductions in the government budgets will stay in effect for the balance of the program. That is to say NO increase in either headcount or spending for the balance of the program. No increases to adjust for inflation except civil service employee salaries may be adjusted for inflation using the same inflation adjustment as Social Security uses. Thus, because of inflation, the program should continue to achieve yearly reductions in government spending of a few percent (the inflation rate) per year.

8. A $0.10 per gallon "energy" tax on all gasoline, diesel (including off-road diesel), jet fuel, and heating oil. Add a equivalent tax on natural gas, propane and coal. The second year of the program add an addition $0.10 per gallon tax (for a total of $0.20 per gallon) to this energy tax. This energy tax will be collected at the distributor or wholesale level.

9. A 10% "entertainment" tax on the price of all entertainment -- movies, sport events (except K - 12 school events), concerts, theme parks, cable and satellite TV, Internet connections, and the sale (or rental) of entertainment CD and DVD.

10. Set up a bipartisan commission (much like the military base closing commission) to suggest binding recommendations to "solve" the Social Security and Medicare problems. This commission would also study the long-term effects of the new government medical insurance plan and suggest changes (if any) to this plan.

This plan will affect everyone because every one of us is the cause of the problem. We cause the problem by "living" off the Federal Government for the last 70 plus years. IT IS NOW TIME FOR US TO "PAY UP".

Yes nice now were is the plan to reduce spending?
 
You miss points 5, 6 and 7

Your plan is all tax and no cattle. It's time for the tics on the ass of society to pay up. I've been paying ever since I started working.

5. Permanently reduce the number of ALL government employees (civil service, contract temporaries, and part-time) in all government departments by 10% from January 2011 headcount levels in the first year of the program with an additional 5% reduction in the second year of the program.

6. Permanently reduce the non-payroll expenditure budgets (expense, operating and capital equipment budgets) of all government departments by 10%. This reduction effects both on-budget and off-budget expenditures.

7. The above mentioned permanent reductions in the government budgets will stay in effect for the balance of the program. That is to say NO increase in either headcount or spending for the balance of the program. No increases to adjust for inflation except civil service employee salaries may be adjusted for inflation using the same inflation adjustment as Social Security uses. Thus, because of inflation, the program should continue to achieve yearly reductions in government spending of a few percent (the inflation rate) per year.
 
I think the plan is an overkill. It seems to ignore the fact that revenues will increase as the economy improves. Also, it's not necessary that we wipe out the deficit. If we can bring it down to about 300 or 400 billion, the increase in debt would be covered by GDP growth.
 
You miss points 5, 6 and 7

Your plan is all tax and no cattle. It's time for the tics on the ass of society to pay up. I've been paying ever since I started working.

5. Permanently reduce the number of ALL government employees (civil service, contract temporaries, and part-time) in all government departments by 10% from January 2011 headcount levels in the first year of the program with an additional 5% reduction in the second year of the program.

6. Permanently reduce the non-payroll expenditure budgets (expense, operating and capital equipment budgets) of all government departments by 10%. This reduction effects both on-budget and off-budget expenditures.

7. The above mentioned permanent reductions in the government budgets will stay in effect for the balance of the program. That is to say NO increase in either headcount or spending for the balance of the program. No increases to adjust for inflation except civil service employee salaries may be adjusted for inflation using the same inflation adjustment as Social Security uses. Thus, because of inflation, the program should continue to achieve yearly reductions in government spending of a few percent (the inflation rate) per year.

Very interesting. I will have to think about it before I can give you any kind of informed answer. But I did see the spending cuts in 5,6,7.

The people that answered you are from the right and they think that all taxes are theft.

I also think you should rethink #3.

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Good article too.

Ezra Klein - Do the poor really pay no taxes?
 
I think the plan is an overkill. It seems to ignore the fact that revenues will increase as the economy improves. Also, it's not necessary that we wipe out the deficit. If we can bring it down to about 300 or 400 billion, the increase in debt would be covered by GDP growth.

I agree with you although I do think we need to cancel out the Bush tax givaway.

I really think this deficit hysteria is foolish. I can see how the right thinks it might help their side, but really all it is doing is scaring people. It reminds me of the alerts we got through the middle of the last administration. People would calm down and then they would have another alert. I wonder what they can pull out of the hat to replace this issue or if they just plan on keeping it up.
 
Unless 5, 6, and 7 come first, and are completed entirely with no fudging of numbers or definitions, then nothing else should happen. Governemnt hasn't shown their competent enough to raise taxes without blowing that new revenue on bullshit. Cuts first, taxes later.

Also, the type of taxes your suggesting would be fine in a strong economy, but right now would be very dangerous.
 
Increasing revenue reduces the necessity of shrinking government. Once more money is coming in, spending goes up again. This has been tested over and over.
And increasing taxes in a recession is a really bad idea.
And what happened to obama's no tax pledge?


I agree,once the money comes rolling in again you know the Obama administration will spend the hell out of it in the name of getting his agenda put forth.Then the Libs will be screaming for the rich to pay their "fair" share,whatever that may be and we are back where we started...

I wanna see where they will cut spending and i want it written in stone. :eek:
 
I think the plan is an overkill. It seems to ignore the fact that revenues will increase as the economy improves. Also, it's not necessary that we wipe out the deficit. If we can bring it down to about 300 or 400 billion, the increase in debt would be covered by GDP growth.

I agree with you although I do think we need to cancel out the Bush tax givaway.

I really think this deficit hysteria is foolish. I can see how the right thinks it might help their side, but really all it is doing is scaring people. It reminds me of the alerts we got through the middle of the last administration. People would calm down and then they would have another alert. I wonder what they can pull out of the hat to replace this issue or if they just plan on keeping it up.

"Giveaway"? Is that what you call allowing people to keep more of their own money?
The tax cuts propelled the US to many quarters of growth. Partly for this reason Obama, who had vowed to end them, signed their extension in an agreement he is now reneging on.

We have a huge problem whne debt reaches unsustainable (a favorite word of the Left) levels.

We cannot pick 5% of the workforce or this program or that one for elimination. That has been tried about 3 different times and failed every time. We need wholesale elimination of, e.g. Dept of Energy, with any useful function transferred to, e.g. Commerce. That would reduce the amount of money we are locked in to spending.
 
I think the plan is an overkill. It seems to ignore the fact that revenues will increase as the economy improves. Also, it's not necessary that we wipe out the deficit. If we can bring it down to about 300 or 400 billion, the increase in debt would be covered by GDP growth.

I agree with you although I do think we need to cancel out the Bush tax givaway.

I really think this deficit hysteria is foolish. I can see how the right thinks it might help their side, but really all it is doing is scaring people. It reminds me of the alerts we got through the middle of the last administration. People would calm down and then they would have another alert. I wonder what they can pull out of the hat to replace this issue or if they just plan on keeping it up.

"Giveaway"? Is that what you call allowing people to keep more of their own money?
The tax cuts propelled the US to many quarters of growth. Partly for this reason Obama, who had vowed to end them, signed their extension in an agreement he is now reneging on.

We have a huge problem whne debt reaches unsustainable (a favorite word of the Left) levels.

We cannot pick 5% of the workforce or this program or that one for elimination. That has been tried about 3 different times and failed every time. We need wholesale elimination of, e.g. Dept of Energy, with any useful function transferred to, e.g. Commerce. That would reduce the amount of money we are locked in to spending.

Really? That's what we need to do? Where in the world did you ever get the idea that it would be possible to just shut down an agency and throw all those people out of work. Is this part of the jobs, jobs, jobs, policy that the right was pushing awhile back?

I would like to see where you got your info about programs having been cut 3 times and it failing. I would like to read it. TIA
 
I agree with you although I do think we need to cancel out the Bush tax givaway.

I really think this deficit hysteria is foolish. I can see how the right thinks it might help their side, but really all it is doing is scaring people. It reminds me of the alerts we got through the middle of the last administration. People would calm down and then they would have another alert. I wonder what they can pull out of the hat to replace this issue or if they just plan on keeping it up.

"Giveaway"? Is that what you call allowing people to keep more of their own money?
The tax cuts propelled the US to many quarters of growth. Partly for this reason Obama, who had vowed to end them, signed their extension in an agreement he is now reneging on.

We have a huge problem whne debt reaches unsustainable (a favorite word of the Left) levels.

We cannot pick 5% of the workforce or this program or that one for elimination. That has been tried about 3 different times and failed every time. We need wholesale elimination of, e.g. Dept of Energy, with any useful function transferred to, e.g. Commerce. That would reduce the amount of money we are locked in to spending.

Really? That's what we need to do? Where in the world did you ever get the idea that it would be possible to just shut down an agency and throw all those people out of work. Is this part of the jobs, jobs, jobs, policy that the right was pushing awhile back?

I would like to see where you got your info about programs having been cut 3 times and it failing. I would like to read it. TIA

Hmm. Obama promised just such a program, what, 4 weeks ago?
Obama's promise to cut middle managers won't be easy to keep -- GovExec.com

Al Gore promised to "reinvent government". Frankly I liked it better the old way.
Reinvention Initiatives

Ths comes up often enough so I wouldn't be surprised if Nixon also had such a program.

Throwing those people out of work is the first step to getting them hired doing something productive rather than pushing papers and obstructing growth.
Or did you fail economics?
 
$2.3T missing from the Pentagon and 1/4 of their money goes missing every year. Let's get that back.

$1T missing from HUD. Lets get that back.

My bet is that similar money is missing from other departments.
 
n our hearts, we all know that the ONLY way to stop the growth in the federal debt is to stop spending more money than the government receives. Thus, me must reduce government spending AND increase taxes. The plan is as simple as that.

It may be that simple. BUT, the larger question is WHO is going to get their taxes raised? Who will pay for this debacle. 2008 saw this country handing money out left and right to the movers and shakers. Now, I suspect that it will NOT be the movers and shakers who are expected to pay.

I do well for a woman. I pay a lot of taxes. But my entire life, I have tried to maintain a balance in the way I think of it. As much as I pay, if I didn't pay it at all, there wouldn't be enough to thrust me into the jet set. I might have a few more feet added to my home, a better vacation, a newer computer, but it would not change my life. So, I've not resented the taxes too much and that is also due to the populations I have worked with as a nurse- populations who really can't do any better than they are because they are so limited by either illness, deformity, retardation, or just low intellect. Those people need the help.

But, I'm getting testy over this shit. What about those movers and shakers who got all the 'stimulus' money in the beginning of this administration. Where the hell are they? I sense my life beginning to change in a negative direction because of it. That has not happened in the past.
 
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n our hearts, we all know that the ONLY way to stop the growth in the federal debt is to stop spending more money than the government receives. Thus, me must reduce government spending AND increase taxes. The plan is as simple as that.

It may be that simple. BUT, the larger question is WHO is going to get their taxes raised? Who will pay for this debacle. 2008 saw this country handing money out left and right to the movers and shakers. Now, I suspect that it will NOT be the movers and shakers who are expected to pay.

I do well for a woman. I pay a lot of taxes. But my entire life, I have tried to maintain a balance in the way I think of it. As much as I pay, if I didn't pay it at all, there wouldn't be enough to thrust me into the jet set. I might have a few more feet added to my home, a better vacation, a newer computer, but it would not change my life. So, I've not resented the taxes too much and that is also due to the populations I have worked with as a nurse- populations who really can't do any better than they are because they are so limited by either illness, deformity, retardation, or just low intellect. Those people need the help.

But, I'm getting testy over this shit. What about those movers and shakers who got all the 'stimulus' money in the beginning of this administration. Where the hell are they? I sense my life beginning to change in a negative direction because of it. That has not happened in the past.

Now, I suspect that it will NOT be the movers and shakers who are expected to pay.

Good point. They run off with all the money and when we run out it is the little people who are expected to tighten their belts.
 
I really think this deficit hysteria is foolish.

Indeed.

During a recent press conference, Federal Reserve chairman Bernanke stated that efforts to reduce the deficit would do little – if anything - to improve economic conditions and a comprehensive, long-term approach is preferable:

Will budget cuts help or hinder the economy? It depends on the timing, Bernanke replies, and says cuts should be for the long term.

How big an issue is the deficit for job creation? That's a line the Republicans have been pushing.

"I don't think that sharp immediate cuts in the deficit would create more jobs," responds Bernanke, making an orthodox economic point. That won't convince the Tea Party.

"What people should understand is that our budgetary problems are very long run in nature," says Bernanke. The best way to fix them "is to take a longer-run perspective" and offer a credible plan to reduce deficitis.

Focusing on the near-term, he says: "I don't think that's the optimal way to proceed."

Ben Bernanke's press conference - as it happened | Business | guardian.co.uk

Clearly we need to get the economy stabilized first, then begin addressing budget reductions.
 

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