Fiscal conservatism now? Or it'll be shoved down our throats later.

[BrokeLoser]

As long as the War Department`s budget is untouchable, spending cuts are meaningless because we would be cutting nickels and dimes. I want the government to stop spending on anything that doesn`t affect me. I`m sure we all can agree on that. Our military spending makes up nearly 38% of the world`s total. Friendly neighbors north and south and 2 big oceans protecting east and west coasts. Are we suckers or cowards?

Ranked: Top 10 Countries by Military Spending

As geopolitical tensions began to heat up around the world, which nations were the top military spenders in 2021?

www.visualcapitalist.com

I wonder if Ukraine wishes they would have spent more on their military?
It’s always easy to say “we should spend less on defense” when you know you don’t have to worry about being attacked.

The real problem is….spending on people like you doesn’t offer an ROi. We have spent trillions trying to improve blacks and degenerates…they don’t improve.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

As long as the War Department`s budget is untouchable, spending cuts are meaningless because we would be cutting nickels and dimes. I want the government to stop spending on anything that doesn`t affect me. I`m sure we all can agree on that. Our military spending makes up nearly 38% of the world`s total. Friendly neighbors north and south and 2 big oceans protecting east and west coasts. Are we suckers or cowards?

Ranked: Top 10 Countries by Military Spending

As geopolitical tensions began to heat up around the world, which nations were the top military spenders in 2021?

www.visualcapitalist.com

Neither, we are power hungry and our military is all we have left to try and control the world with.

Eventually we will have to give it up and we will no longer be a superpower in the world, and it will be ok when that happens.

Every great empire has ended yet the countries behind them are just fine now.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

I wonder if Ukraine wishes they would have spent more on their military?

doubtful as they could never have outspent Russia. They would still have lost without outside help.

 

[kyzr]

It's very simple to balance the budget and pay down the debt. Unfortunately, we don't want our politicians to actually do that.
"Gimme gimme gimme, and make that guy over there pay for it."

Eliminate all tax expenditures, with the exception of the EITC which is the only tax expenditure proven to increase productivity.

Raise the Social Security and Medicare eligibility age to 70, and index them to 9 percent of the population going forward. We are living longer than our ancestors, we should be working longer.

These two things alone would bring a gigantic surplus which we could use to pay off the debt and lower everyone's tax rates.

The first would also result in people and businesses earning identical incomes paying identical taxes. And it would result in disincentivizing bribes in the form of campaign cash to elected officials.

Like I said. Simple. But none of you want that or you would be demanding it.

1. Agree with the gimme, gimme, gimme crowd. End ALL subsidies and foreign aid.

2. You say eliminate "tax expenditures", but I think you mean all "tax deductions and loop holes" like "capital gains", etc.. Everyone uses the standard deduction? Just closing all loop-holes gains $1.5T in new revenue. Not sure what eliminating tax deductions would gain???

Closing tax loopholes: Explainer and reporting resources

Politicians looking to reform America’s tax system often talk about closing loopholes and cutting deductions. What does this mean? And who is lobbying against the changes?

journalistsresource.org

3. SS has two ages, early & full. Currently early is 62 and full is 67. Raise them 1-year each. 70 is too old to work. Raise/remove the cap and means test benefits. Those changes would save SS.

4. Tally up the proposed tax code changes:
Close loop-holes +$1.5T
Fix SS net zero
Fix Medicare net zero
Send Medicaid to the states +$500b
Send Welfare to the states +$1.3T
Send Education to the states +$300b
Eliminate all personal tax deductions +??????? (keep business deductions)
Collect all taxes owed +$400b

IRS Loses $400 Billion Per Year in Unpaid Taxes | Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

2016-05-16-The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released new estimates of the “tax

www.crfb.org

Budgets as per wiki
2023 $6.1T - $4.4T = $1.7T deficit
2022 $6.3T - $4.9T = $1.4T deficit
2021 $6.8T - $4.0T = $2.8T deficit
2020 $6.5T - $3.4T = $3.1T deficit
2019 $4.4T - $3.4Y = $1.0T deficit

So looking at a bare-bones budget, going back to 2019 levels of $4.4T of spending and $3.4T of revenue
Revenue would increase $1.9T + $4.4T = $6.3T (plus elimination of loop-holes)
Spending would reduce to $4.4T - $2.1T = $2.3T

Those changes would result in a $4T surplus to start paying down the $34T Debt

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

1. Agree with the gimme, gimme, gimme crowd. End ALL subsidies and foreign aid.

2. You say eliminate "tax expenditures", but I think you mean all "tax deductions and loop holes" like "capital gains", etc.. Everyone uses the standard deduction? Just closing all loop-holes gains $1.5T in new revenue. Not sure what eliminating tax deductions would gain???

Closing tax loopholes: Explainer and reporting resources

Politicians looking to reform America’s tax system often talk about closing loopholes and cutting deductions. What does this mean? And who is lobbying against the changes?

journalistsresource.org

3. SS has two ages, early & full. Currently early is 62 and full is 67. Raise them 1-year each. 70 is too old to work. Raise/remove the cap and means test benefits. Those two things would SS.

4.
Close loop-holes +$1.5T
Fix SS net zero
Fix Medicare net zero
Send Medicaid to the states +$500b
Send Welfare to the states +$1.3T
Send Education to the states +$300b
Eliminate all tax deductions +???????
Collect all taxes owed +$400b

IRS Loses $400 Billion Per Year in Unpaid Taxes | Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

2016-05-16-The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released new estimates of the “tax

www.crfb.org

Budgets as per wiki
2023 $6.1T - $4.4T = $1.7T deficit
2022 $6.3T - $4.9T = $1.4T deficit
2021 $6.8T - $4.0T = $2.8T deficit
2020 $6.5T - $3.4T = $3.1T deficit
2019 $4.4T - $3.4Y = $1.0T deficit

So looking at a bare-bones budget, going back to 2019 levels of $4.4T of spending and $3.4T of revenue
Revenue would increase $1.9T + $4.4T = $6.3T (plus elimination of loop-holes)
Spending would reduce to $4.4T - $2.1T = $2.3T

Those changes would result in a $4T surplus to start paying down the $34T Debt

Eliminate all tax deductions +???????

Like corporations deducting employee wages?

 

[kyzr]

Eliminate all tax deductions +???????

Like corporations deducting employee wages?

I think that is what g5000 is talking about, but I thought more for personal taxes than for business taxes.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

1. Agree with the gimme, gimme, gimme crowd. End ALL subsidies and foreign aid.

2. You say eliminate "tax expenditures", but I think you mean all "tax deductions and loop holes" like "capital gains", etc.. Everyone uses the standard deduction? Just closing all loop-holes gains $1.5T in new revenue. Not sure what eliminating tax deductions would gain???

Closing tax loopholes: Explainer and reporting resources

Politicians looking to reform America’s tax system often talk about closing loopholes and cutting deductions. What does this mean? And who is lobbying against the changes?

journalistsresource.org

3. SS has two ages, early & full. Currently early is 62 and full is 67. Raise them 1-year each. 70 is too old to work. Raise/remove the cap and means test benefits. Those changes would save SS.

4. Tally up the proposed tax code changes:
Close loop-holes +$1.5T
Fix SS net zero
Fix Medicare net zero
Send Medicaid to the states +$500b
Send Welfare to the states +$1.3T
Send Education to the states +$300b
Eliminate all personal tax deductions +??????? (keep business deductions)
Collect all taxes owed +$400b

IRS Loses $400 Billion Per Year in Unpaid Taxes | Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

2016-05-16-The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released new estimates of the “tax

www.crfb.org

Budgets as per wiki
2023 $6.1T - $4.4T = $1.7T deficit
2022 $6.3T - $4.9T = $1.4T deficit
2021 $6.8T - $4.0T = $2.8T deficit
2020 $6.5T - $3.4T = $3.1T deficit
2019 $4.4T - $3.4Y = $1.0T deficit

So looking at a bare-bones budget, going back to 2019 levels of $4.4T of spending and $3.4T of revenue
Revenue would increase $1.9T + $4.4T = $6.3T (plus elimination of loop-holes)
Spending would reduce to $4.4T - $2.1T = $2.3T

Those changes would result in a $4T surplus to start paying down the $34T Debt

Raise/remove the cap and means test benefits.

What would this look like?

 

[g5000]

1. Agree with the gimme, gimme, gimme crowd. End ALL subsidies and foreign aid.

2. You say eliminate "tax expenditures", but I think you mean all "tax deductions and loop holes" like "capital gains", etc.. Everyone uses the standard deduction? Just closing all loop-holes gains $1.5T in new revenue. Not sure what eliminating tax deductions would gain???

Tax deductions add to the cost of the economy. As I cited above, the mortgage interest deduction raises the cost of your house by 27%. That benefits realtors and bankers to the detriment of home owners.

When I say tax expenditures, I am using the literal meaning. Tax credits, exemptions, and deductions.

Foreign aid is only one percent of the federal budget, by the way, and it ensures world peace and security. If we don't help our allies, they will fall under the sphere of influence of our enemies.

Closing tax loopholes: Explainer and reporting resources

Politicians looking to reform America’s tax system often talk about closing loopholes and cutting deductions. What does this mean? And who is lobbying against the changes?

journalistsresource.org

3. SS has two ages, early & full. Currently early is 62 and full is 67. Raise them 1-year each. 70 is too old to work.

When the Social Security eligibility age was set to 65, average life expectancy was 60. Social Security was intended for those who beat the actuarials.

Only 5.4% of the US population was over 65 in 1935. Today, 16 percent of the population is over 65. 9 percent are over 70.

We are living longer, we need to work longer.

 

[g5000]

Raise/remove the cap and means test benefits.

What would this look like?

Currently, above a certain income, Social Security taxes are not paid. Removing the cap would mean more Social Security taxes collected from the wealthy.

The current cap is $168,000. Income above that is not taxed for Social Security.

 

[kyzr]

Raise/remove the cap and means test benefits.

What would this look like?

It means that SS would be self-funding. Raise the cap and something like incomes over $1m don't get SS benefits.
If SS isn't fixed we only get 75% of promised benefits after 2034.

 

[g5000]

How Would Reforming the Mortgage Interest Deduction Affect the Housing Market?

One widely cited 1996 study by Dennis Capozza, Richard Green, and PatricHendershott estimated that eliminating the mortgage interest and property tax deductions would reduce housing prices in the short term by an average of 13 percent nationwide, with regional changes ranging from 8 to 27 percent.



Why Now's the Time to Kill the Mortgage Interest Deduction

Proponents of the deduction argue that it's a key component to keeping home prices up.

Do you hear that? An open admission the deduction drives up the cost of housing!


As much as homebuilders argue that eliminating the deduction would hurt them, economists agree that the biggest impact would be on the highest-priced homes, with more reasonably priced real estate seeing little or no impact from getting rid of the deduction.

The rich are disproportionately benefitting from this government interference in the housing market.

And homebuilders are whining about losing their government tit.

 

[kyzr]

Tax deductions add to the cost of the economy. As I cited above, the mortgage interest deduction raises the cost of your house by 27%. That benefits realtors and bankers to the detriment of home owners. When I say tax expenditures, I am using the literal meaning. Tax credits, exemptions, and deductions.

Foreign aid is only one percent of the federal budget, by the way, and it ensures world peace and security. If we don't help our allies, they will fall under the sphere of influence of our enemies.

When the Social Security eligibility age was set to 65, average life expectancy was 60. Social Security was intended for those who beat the actuarial age.
Only 5.4% of the US population was over 65 in 1935. Today, 16 percent of the population is over 65. 9 percent are over 70.We are living longer, we need to work longer.

1. OK
2. Routine foreign Aid needs to end, unless there is a dire need like Ukraine fighting Russia. Or helping Taiwan.
3. Maybe you aren't old enough to know what its like being 65-70. Raise the ages 1-year. Raising the cap fixes SS by itself.

 

[g5000]

1. OK
2. Routine foreign Aid needs to end, unless there is a dire need like Ukraine fighting Russia. Or helping Taiwan.
3. Maybe you aren't old enough to know what its like being 65-70. Raise the ages 1-year. Raising the cap fixes SS by itself.

A 70 year old today is in far better shape than a 60 year old in 1935.

You were lucky to even survive to collect Social Security back then.

 

[kyzr]

How Would Reforming the Mortgage Interest Deduction Affect the Housing Market?

One widely cited 1996 study by Dennis Capozza, Richard Green, and PatricHendershott estimated that eliminating the mortgage interest and property tax deductions would reduce housing prices in the short term by an average of 13 percent nationwide, with regional changes ranging from 8 to 27 percent.

Why Now's the Time to Kill the Mortgage Interest Deduction

Proponents of the deduction argue that it's a key component to keeping home prices up.

Do you hear that? An open admission the deduction drives up the cost of housing!

As much as homebuilders argue that eliminating the deduction would hurt them, economists agree that the biggest impact would be on the highest-priced homes, with more reasonably priced real estate seeing little or no impact from getting rid of the deduction.

The rich are disproportionately benefiting from this government interference in the housing market.

And home-builders are whining about losing their government tit.

Housing is a major part of the US economy. Inflation is killing it as mortgage rates rise and the cost of materials rise.
I'd keep the mortgage deduction to help people afford houses.

 

[kyzr]

A 70 year old today is in far better shape than a 60 year old in 1935.
You were lucky to even survive to collect Social Security back then.

OK, we disagree. I'd raise the SS ages 1-year to 63/68 and raise/remove the cap.

 

[g5000]

1. OK
2. Routine foreign Aid needs to end, unless there is a dire need like Ukraine fighting Russia. Or helping Taiwan.

China and Russia are working diligently to attract Asia and Africa away from the US. They are spending a lot of money in that effort.

We get the vast majority of raw material from those continents.

Foreign aid provides huge returns on our investment.

 

[kyzr]

China and Russia are working diligently to attract Asia and Africa away from the US. They are spending a lot of money in that effort.
We get the vast majority of raw material from those continents.
Foreign aid provides huge returns on our investment.

As long as corruption ans stupidity is kept to a minimum.
I saw a guy on TV saying we need to pay to rebuild Gaza.
Pay for bombs for Israel to blow up Gaza
Pay to rebuild Gaza
Pay for Bombs to blow up Gaza
Pay to rebuild Gaza...

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

It means that SS would be self-funding. Raise the cap and something like incomes over $1m don't get SS benefits.
If SS isn't fixed we only get 75% of promised benefits after 2034.

You want to charge incomes over $1m, 12.4% in SS taxes, and they get zero benefits?

 

[kyzr]

You want to charge incomes over $1m, 12.4% in SS taxes, and they get zero benefits?

They get $1m in income. That is a lot better than an SS check, or 75% of the promised SS check.
So the top 1% of incomes pay a few bucks more in SS tax. No one should be whining.
Raising the cap to $1m may fix SS? Then they could raise the ages 1-year if needed.
There are several options to consider.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

They get $1m in income. That is a lot better than an SS check, or 75% of the promised SS check.
So the top 1% of incomes pay a few bucks more in SS tax. No one should be whining.

What if their income drops below $1 million, the year before retirement?
What if you only make +$1 million for one year?

So the top 1% of incomes pay a few bucks more in SS tax.

12.4% more isn't a few bucks.