We are to believe?

[RetiredGySgt]

We are to believe Obama and the Democrats want to make significant cuts in the US budget AFTER watching them have a hissy fit and almost shut the Government down over 60 billion? Give me a break.

Obama's debt cutting plan: Everything on the table - Yahoo! News

 

[auditor0007]

We are to believe Obama and the Democrats want to make significant cuts in the US budget AFTER watching them have a hissy fit and almost shut the Government down over 60 billion? Give me a break.

Obama's debt cutting plan: Everything on the table - Yahoo! News

Most Democrats, as well as Republicans, realize that cuts must be made. And most Democrats want to see cuts made. However, the idea that we can even come close to balancing the budget without some tax increases is just not in the cards, unless all entitlement programs are slashed to bare bones.

Now I realize there are quite a few conservatives who would be just fine with that. It's a bit like Paul Ryan's proposal; turn Medicare over to the private insurers and subsidize them. The problem is that the subsidization will not cover the full cost, and millions of retirees will eventually not be able to afford medical coverage in their retirement. Of course, those with enough money will. I'm sure that would suit most conservatives just fine. If you can't afford it, too bad, right?

I'm interested to see what Obama proposes. I too am afraid it will not be enough though. It would be nice to see some alternative proposals. So far, we have only seen one. Personally, rather than turning Medicare over to the insurance companies, I'd much rather see them raise the retirement age for Medicare and SS. Those due to retire in the next five years would see no change, between five and ten years we add on one year, between eleven and fifteen we add on two years, until we hit a retirement age of 70. Benefits would not be reduced, but some people would have to wait a bit longer to collect.

To me, this makes much more sense than telling millions the government will pay for half of their medical coverage, and if they can't afford to pay for the other half, then too bad. And maybe my idea isn't the right one. Either way, I want to hear many more proposals, and then I want to see our elected representatives stop all the bs political maneuvering and actually solve some problems.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Hey, 60 billion in cuts ARE historic! If this were 1981.

But in 2011? Not so much.

 

[VaYank5150]

As long as EVERYTHING is on the table, we should all be supportive of the cuts.

 

[Dr.Drock]

Yeah what's lost in all this is how much they agreed on, a $60 billion issue on a budget of $3.8 trillion? So they agreed on about 98-99% of the budget, like they agree on 98-99% of everything in government.

Yet the parties and the media do an amazing job of leading us to believe they had these huge differences in the budget, to go along with the overall lie that they have huge differences in principles.

 

[rightwinger]

Look at all the agitation over cutting 1% of the budget

If we want to make a serious dent in the $14 Trillion deficit we need to take a look at what we want America to be and what sacrifices (yes SACRIFICES) we want Americans to make. To make serious cuts you have to look at the whole budget....not just the programs that Republicans hate

What sacrifices need to be made?

Social Security- We need to move the retirement age out a few years (70 years old) for those 40 and younger. We also need to move the annual payment threshold

Military- How much Defense does the US really need? We are bigger than the next 10 countries combined. We need to cut back on our global presence and force NATO, Japan, Korea to assume larger roles in their area

Taxes- Yes ....serious cuts to the deficit will involve collecting more taxes and using them to reduce the deficit not to pay for more goodies

Entitlements- We need a basic safety net for our people. How big a net can be negotiated. We need to force people to contribute more to their own upkeep

 

[LordBrownTrout]

Wake me up when we start talking 4 to 500 billion a year, otherwise their wrangling over 30, 60 billion cuts a year are a huge insult.

 

[Dr.Drock]

Wake me up when we start talking 4 to 500 billion a year, otherwise their wrangling over 30, 60 billion cuts a year are a huge insult.

Just another wildly sensationalized moment to make it seem like democrats and republicans are in some big disagreement in Washington. Nothing but political posturing by both sides.

The budget, approved of by both sides, is a total disaster.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

Look at all the agitation over cutting 1% of the budget

If we want to make a serious dent in the $14 Trillion deficit we need to take a look at what we want America to be and what sacrifices (yes SACRIFICES) we want Americans to make. To make serious cuts you have to look at the whole budget....not just the programs that Republicans hate

What sacrifices need to be made?

Social Security- We need to move the retirement age out a few years (70 years old) for those 40 and younger. We also need to move the annual payment threshold

Military- How much Defense does the US really need? We are bigger than the next 10 countries combined. We need to cut back on our global presence and force NATO, Japan, Korea to assume larger roles in their area

Taxes- Yes ....serious cuts to the deficit will involve collecting more taxes and using them to reduce the deficit not to pay for more goodies

Entitlements- We need a basic safety net for our people. How big a net can be negotiated. We need to force people to contribute more to their own upkeep

I agree with some of this, RW. I don't agree about sacrifices on out part though. We've been giving congress and the fed plenty of money and weve nothing to show for it. It's time that our government sacrifices without more of our hard earned money. Once they've proven over 10 years of massive cuts, then we can talk.

 

[Dr.Drock]

Look at all the agitation over cutting 1% of the budget

If we want to make a serious dent in the $14 Trillion deficit we need to take a look at what we want America to be and what sacrifices (yes SACRIFICES) we want Americans to make. To make serious cuts you have to look at the whole budget....not just the programs that Republicans hate

What sacrifices need to be made?

Social Security- We need to move the retirement age out a few years (70 years old) for those 40 and younger. We also need to move the annual payment threshold

Military- How much Defense does the US really need? We are bigger than the next 10 countries combined. We need to cut back on our global presence and force NATO, Japan, Korea to assume larger roles in their area

Taxes- Yes ....serious cuts to the deficit will involve collecting more taxes and using them to reduce the deficit not to pay for more goodies

Entitlements- We need a basic safety net for our people. How big a net can be negotiated. We need to force people to contribute more to their own upkeep

I agree with some of this, RW. I don't agree about sacrifices on out part though. We've been giving congress and the fed plenty of money and weve nothing to show for it. It's time that our government sacrifices without more of our hard earned money. Once they've proven over 10 years of massive cuts, then we can talk.

LordBrown I'd be stunned if either party gave us ONE year of massive cuts, sure we need 10 or more, but never in my 25 year lifetime has either side even marginally cut into the budget from the year before.

 

[Article 15]

Wake me up when we start talking 4 to 500 billion a year, otherwise their wrangling over 30, 60 billion cuts a year are a huge insult.

If the Dems proposed $100 billion in social spending cuts and the GOP proposed $100 billion in defense cuts I'd fall out of my chair.

 

[rightwinger]

Look at all the agitation over cutting 1% of the budget

If we want to make a serious dent in the $14 Trillion deficit we need to take a look at what we want America to be and what sacrifices (yes SACRIFICES) we want Americans to make. To make serious cuts you have to look at the whole budget....not just the programs that Republicans hate

What sacrifices need to be made?

Social Security- We need to move the retirement age out a few years (70 years old) for those 40 and younger. We also need to move the annual payment threshold

Military- How much Defense does the US really need? We are bigger than the next 10 countries combined. We need to cut back on our global presence and force NATO, Japan, Korea to assume larger roles in their area

Taxes- Yes ....serious cuts to the deficit will involve collecting more taxes and using them to reduce the deficit not to pay for more goodies

Entitlements- We need a basic safety net for our people. How big a net can be negotiated. We need to force people to contribute more to their own upkeep

I agree with some of this, RW. I don't agree about sacrifices on out part though. We've been giving congress and the fed plenty of money and weve nothing to show for it. It's time that our government sacrifices without more of our hard earned money. Once they've proven over 10 years of massive cuts, then we can talk.

Thats our biggest problem. Everyone wants someone else to sacrifice. The government is US

The poor will have to sacrifice, middle class will have to sacrifice and yes, even the wealthy will have to sacrifice

 

[The Rabbi]

Wake me up when we start talking 4 to 500 billion a year, otherwise their wrangling over 30, 60 billion cuts a year are a huge insult.

But the discussion is on cutting. That is a huge change. When did Democrats ever talk about cutting spending in the last 4 years? They only talked about whether to spend more or way more.

 

[Dr.Drock]

Wake me up when we start talking 4 to 500 billion a year, otherwise their wrangling over 30, 60 billion cuts a year are a huge insult.

But the discussion is on cutting. That is a huge change. When did Democrats ever talk about cutting spending in the last 4 years? They only talked about whether to spend more or way more.

Cutting from what? They're not cutting from last years budget, both sides just made a 1% decrease to a proposed budget. Who gives a shit about that? Who does that help?

 

[Robert]

We are to believe Obama and the Democrats want to make significant cuts in the US budget AFTER watching them have a hissy fit and almost shut the Government down over 60 billion? Give me a break.

Obama's debt cutting plan: Everything on the table - Yahoo! News

That was nothing more then a lie in the first place.

Obama lies

 

[Big Black Dog]

I believe the real problem is this... It's sort of like a family living way beyond their means by the overuse of credit cards. Eventually, there is no more credit to be had and you have to start eliminating things in order to live within the income you generate. Nobody wants to give up the good things and face the fact that as noble as it is to have all of these government give away programs, they must be paid for. It should be a law that the government cannot spend more money in a year then what they collected in taxes the previous year. Spend it anyway you wish but no more than what you have to spend. I personally could care less about all of the foreign aid we give away to overseas countries every year. Time to cut it out. It's time to keep the money at home. Time to tighten the belt. Time to stop mismanaging our funds and become responsible. There is nobody to blame except for ourselves for the condition we are in. When all you do is elect clowns, you have to expect a circus.

 

[Claudette]

I believe the real problem is this... It's sort of like a family living way beyond their means by the overuse of credit cards. Eventually, there is no more credit to be had and you have to start eliminating things in order to live within the income you generate. Nobody wants to give up the good things and face the fact that as noble as it is to have all of these government give away programs, they must be paid for. It should be a law that the government cannot spend more money in a year then what they collected in taxes the previous year. Spend it anyway you wish but no more than what you have to spend. I personally could care less about all of the foreign aid we give away to overseas countries every year. Time to cut it out. It's time to keep the money at home. Time to tighten the belt. Time to stop mismanaging our funds and become responsible. There is nobody to blame except for ourselves for the condition we are in. When all you do is elect clowns, you have to expect a circus.

Well said BBD. Couldn't agree more.

 

[jillian]

We are to believe Obama and the Democrats want to make significant cuts in the US budget AFTER watching them have a hissy fit and almost shut the Government down over 60 billion? Give me a break.

Obama's debt cutting plan: Everything on the table - Yahoo! News

maybe instead of making it about LEGAL and CONSTITUTIONAL reproductive choice, the rightwingnuts should stop whining and should actually be fiscally responsible.

heaven knows they weren't last time they had any power.

 

[Si modo]

We are to believe Obama and the Democrats want to make significant cuts in the US budget AFTER watching them have a hissy fit and almost shut the Government down over 60 billion? Give me a break.

Obama's debt cutting plan: Everything on the table - Yahoo! News

maybe instead of making it about LEGAL and CONSTITUTIONAL reproductive choice, the rightwingnuts should stop whining and should actually be fiscally responsible.

heaven knows they weren't last time they had any power.

It seems like they forced Clinton to submit a doable budget. Good for Clinton, too, as he is known for having a surplus, thanks to being forced into one.

 

[Jackson]

We are to believe Obama and the Democrats want to make significant cuts in the US budget AFTER watching them have a hissy fit and almost shut the Government down over 60 billion? Give me a break.

Obama's debt cutting plan: Everything on the table - Yahoo! News

maybe instead of making it about LEGAL and CONSTITUTIONAL reproductive choice, the rightwingnuts should stop whining and should actually be fiscally responsible.

heaven knows they weren't last time they had any power.

It seems like they forced Clinton to submit a doable budget. Good for Clinton, too, as he is known for having a surplus, thanks to being forced into one.

I won't believe a word Obama and the Democrats say until I see it in writing waiting for the president's signature. Everything is on the table...probably for more funds...