8537
VIP Member
1. Cut defense spending by about 40%, back to about 2002 levels. Remove troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, cancel programs that the defense department doesn't even want.
2. Means test at least a portion of Social Security - perhaps 50% of each payment is guaranteed, the rest means tested.
3. Cut perverse subsidies such as agriculture and fuels.
<I'm sure there are a host of other areas to cut. Those are just the most obvious to come to mind>
4. After unemployment has declined somewhat, implement an across-the-board freeze in nominal spending for all government agencies, no exceptions. This alone would reduce the deficit by a few hundred billion per year.
5. After the economy is stable, end the extensions of all of the Bush-era tax cuts.
6. Reinstate the estate tax at it's 1990's level.
7. Move towards parity between the tax on capital gains and the tax on labor.
8. Reduce the Social Security contribution tax rate by a point or two, but also remove the cap.
2. Means test at least a portion of Social Security - perhaps 50% of each payment is guaranteed, the rest means tested.
3. Cut perverse subsidies such as agriculture and fuels.
<I'm sure there are a host of other areas to cut. Those are just the most obvious to come to mind>
4. After unemployment has declined somewhat, implement an across-the-board freeze in nominal spending for all government agencies, no exceptions. This alone would reduce the deficit by a few hundred billion per year.
5. After the economy is stable, end the extensions of all of the Bush-era tax cuts.
6. Reinstate the estate tax at it's 1990's level.
7. Move towards parity between the tax on capital gains and the tax on labor.
8. Reduce the Social Security contribution tax rate by a point or two, but also remove the cap.