Solutions To National Debt "Are Painful"

[Nova78]

Bowles: 'No easy way' to get books back in order | US National Headlines | Comcast

The co-chairman of the U.S. deficit commission calls failure to agree on a plan to reduce the national debt "the most disappointing thing in my life."

Erskine Bowles says "what is going on in Washington is absolutely nothing."

He also says Washington must come up with at least $4.7 trillion in deficit reduction. Failing that, he says, "we're not going to have any money left over to spend on anything else" but servicing the debt.

We need a new Government and President- Failure and inaction are considered a success in the current one.

 

[jwoodie]

We cannot solve our debt problem through higher taxes and/or spending cuts alone. The numbers are simply too huge. The best we can do in these areas is to provide a stable tax environment and not exacerbate this problem by increasing spending any further. That leaves us with only two long term solutions: economic growth and inflation. Economic growth (private sector jobs) turn tax eaters into tax payers. Inflation is the fairest way to distribute the effects of our debt because it allows people to make individual decisions about their financial situations.

 

[g5000]

Simpson and Bowles agree we need to raise the Social Security and Medicare eligibility ages. We had 10 people supporting one person on Social Security when it was enacted. Because it was not indexed to life expectancy, we are rapidly approaching 3 to 1.

They also agree we need to eliminate tax expenditures. They don't go as far as I do in demanding a permanent ban on all tax expenditures.

They also agree we need to make deep cuts in defense spending. We cannot continue war level spending. The defense spending curve has gone straight up since 9/11. It is time to return to pre-war levels.

These are very easy solutions, but quite obviously hard for the biggest batch of cowardly politicians we have had in generations.

 

[DiamondDave]

Yes.. revenue AND spending must be addressed... we need to keep up revenue, while allowing the private economy to grow to continue to increase revenue, while cutting out the outrageous spending which got us to where we are... We cannot tax a select few to death, taking at extraordinary levels, while doing nothing else...

We have an ever growing number not paying income taxes.. we have tons of revenue from other tax sources... nobody should be off the hooks in this crisis.. NOBODY

We have to get that revenue coming in, but also continuing to have it come in in the future.. just increasing taxes on 'the rich' is not going to allow for revenue growth

We have to cut at least 40% from our federal government spending.. this is not in question.. and it has to come from everywhere, including defense... but you cannot just do it from defense... you have to eliminate things such as handouts to other countries... you have to eliminate permanent entitlement programs... reduce temporary safety net programs.. eliminate waste.. stop pet projects.. and IMHO have an iron clad balanced budget amendment where any emergency increases above the previous year's income are countered with cuts to other areas...

 

[Duped]

Bowles: 'No easy way' to get books back in order | US National Headlines | Comcast

The co-chairman of the U.S. deficit commission calls failure to agree on a plan to reduce the national debt "the most disappointing thing in my life."

Erskine Bowles says "what is going on in Washington is absolutely nothing."

He also says Washington must come up with at least $4.7 trillion in deficit reduction. Failing that, he says, "we're not going to have any money left over to spend on anything else" but servicing the debt.

We need a new Government and President- Failure and inaction are considered a success in the current one.

Liberals won't care until it directly affects them - then they will blame it on Bush, and ask for stimulus!

 

[Oldguy]

They don't go as far as I do in demanding a permanent ban on all tax expenditures.

You do realize you're suggesting the government spend NO money AT ALL on ANYTHING, don't you? That's what tax expenditures are.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

We need to have a $60B pork bill for Sandy.

Yeah.

Gotsta

 

[CrusaderFrank]

We need to repeal the 16th Amendment and have the states fund the Federal government

 

[Oldguy]

We need to repeal the 16th Amendment and have the states fund the Federal government

Fund it with what money?

 

[CrusaderFrank]

We need to repeal the 16th Amendment and have the states fund the Federal government

Fund it with what money?

let the states figure that out.

But next time some states says, "I need $60B of pork to fix $4B of damage" 49 other states will tell him "Fuck you!" (or 56 other states according to Obama)

 

[TakeAStepBack]

This is why it is referred to as a race to the bottom.

 

[TakeAStepBack]

At least they made some serious cuts to spending in diverting the so called fiscal cliff.....oh, wait. No, no they did not.

 

[Nova78]

The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$3.85 billion per day, We are on a collision course to disaster.
It is sickening.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

View attachment 23720

The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$3.85 billion per day, We are on a collision course to disaster.
It is sickening.

 

[Oldguy]

let the states figure that out.

That's a blatant cop out.

But next time some states says, "I need $60B of pork to fix $4B of damage" 49 other states will tell him "Fuck you!" (or 56 other states according to Obama)

psssst....that's what Congress does. You know...Congress? The People who make up the states?

 

[CrusaderFrank]

let the states figure that out.

That's a blatant cop out.

But next time some states says, "I need $60B of pork to fix $4B of damage" 49 other states will tell him "Fuck you!" (or 56 other states according to Obama)

psssst....that's what Congress does. You know...Congress? The People who make up the states?

Cop out?

let the states figure out how they will fund their share of the budget.

Also, you never get to a $60B bill in the first place

 

[akelch]

What do you think about this solution?
Keep in mind it is a few years old so the timeline for paying off the debit maybe greater then he says.


Watch How to Abolish the Federal Reserve

 

[Flopper]

Bowles: 'No easy way' to get books back in order | US National Headlines | Comcast

The co-chairman of the U.S. deficit commission calls failure to agree on a plan to reduce the national debt "the most disappointing thing in my life."

Erskine Bowles says "what is going on in Washington is absolutely nothing."

He also says Washington must come up with at least $4.7 trillion in deficit reduction. Failing that, he says, "we're not going to have any money left over to spend on anything else" but servicing the debt.

We need a new Government and President- Failure and inaction are considered a success in the current one.

There is no way we are going to significantly reduce the national debt. Yes, there may be a few years in which we run a surplus, but that will be the exception. In the last 73 years we ran a surplus only 10 times. Paying down the national debt sounds good but it's not realistic. We need realist goals. Our financial goal should be to reduce the deficit to less than 50% of GDP over the next 10 years . That would require that we reduce the deficit about 500 billion with a combination of spending cuts and revenue growth through tax increases and economic growth.

 

[SniperFire]

Owebama locked in his trillion plus overspending in the '09 budget to buy off voters, and Reid has cooperated ever since by refusing to permit budgeting.


Now the chickens are coming home to roost.

 

[TakeAStepBack]

While Obama has certainly made the problem worse, it did not begin with him.