2025 Deficit comes in at 1.97 Trillion. This Is Way Out of Hand

[Blaster]

I would be too but those forced to work while their pay is withheld is a downer. Especially considering that wages are still flowing as normal for those in Congress.

The folks in Congress should not get paid during the shutdown.

 

[my2¢]

The folks in Congress should not get paid during the shutdown.

Amen to that!

Unfortunately...

But members of Congress will still get paychecks, under two parts of the Constitution. Article I, Section 6, says that congress members “shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.” (Source)

 

[Dorian Mode]

The folks in Congress should not get paid during the shutdown.

That's a shame and they actually get a decent salary while they are making millions on insider trading, kickbacks, and bribery.

 

[80zephyr]

I can balance the budget and solve the debt very easily.

1. Ban all tax expenditures except the EITC. That's $2 trillion of cuts right there.

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


There. Done. Easy peasy.

.

People who actually work can't do it at 70. Some countries understand that and have a lower age rate for manual laborers to retire.

 

[candycorn]

Hey Stupid, the 2025 budget is Biden's.

This is his debt.

There was no budget.

 

[Edgetho]

Social Security
Medicare
Defense
Interest

Are the biggest costs.

Cutting any of the first three would be a real problem.

Interest can't be cut.

We don't have a lot of room to reduce spending (but we should reduce what we can).

How about cutting the size of the Bureaucracy? About 2 TRILLION spent there, not including Military, not including SS, not including debt service.

Why are the nation's Richest Zip Codes all around DC? Answer that, please.

One-Third of the Federal Budget is Discretionary Spending. How about we start there?

Which is what Trump is doing as we speak, putting Fatass TV Mamas back to cleaning motels. Where they belong, instead of in DC dragging down $95k a year for sitting around eating Bon-Bons all day.

Shut up

 

[task0778]

I can balance the budget and solve the debt very easily.

1. Ban all tax expenditures except the EITC. That's $2 trillion of cuts right there.

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


There. Done. Easy peasy.

.

I highly doubt there would be $2 trillion in cuts if the EITC is excluded. Do you really think the economy could absorb that much of an increase in taxes?

 

[Edgetho]

That's a shame and they actually get a decent salary while they are making millions on insider trading, kickbacks, and bribery.

I would pay CongressCritters One Million Dollars per year and lower the threshold for proof of Fraud down to - If they even sniff an Inside Trade or look like they're gonna take a payoff, they go to the deepest, darkest dungeon in the Country for decades.

I would also forbid any Elected or Appointed Federal Official from taking any Private Sector Job related to his duties as a Federal Official for 10 years. If he or she is incapable of making a living during that time, I would allow a $100,000 pension for 5 years.

One of the problems now is..... To be blunt, Senators, Congressmen and many Federal Officials don't make enough money for Two HOMES. DC is expensive, they have Wives and kids back home that need to be supported and their salary just isn't enough.

I am right about this. As usual.

I don't know why I bother

 

[g5000]

People who actually work can't do it at 70. Some countries understand that and have a lower age rate for manual laborers to retire.

Most people did not live to 60 when Social Security was enacted. Social Security was intended for those who beat the odds. There were no exceptions made for manual laborers, and manual labor was far more difficult back then.

There are allowances for early retirement in the Social Security act, starting at age 62.

Only 5.4% of the population was over the age of 65 in 1935.

By 1965, when Medicaid was enacted, that figure was 9%.

Today, it's 16%.

This is blazenly clear a trend which cannot be sustained.

We must raise the age to 70.

.

 

[HikerGuy83]

How about cutting the size of the Bureaucracy? About 2 TRILLION spent there, not including Military, not including SS, not including debt service.

I don't see that in the numbers. Can you supply a link?

Why are the nation's Richest Zip Codes all around DC? Answer that, please.

To be sure there is lots of money that flows through D.C. Lawyers and lobbyists as well as contractors. Lots of money. But I dont think that is the BIGGEST problem. At the same time, it is still something that needs to be addressed.

One-Third of the Federal Budget is Discretionary Spending. How about we start there?

Again....would like a link.

Which is what Trump is doing as we speak, putting Fatass TV Mamas back to cleaning motels.

Apparently he isn't. 1.97 trillion this fiscal year. Higher than last year. Not seeing it.

 

[whitehall]

Why is the deficit out of hand only during republican administrations?

 

[g5000]

I highly doubt there would be $2 trillion in cuts if the EITC is excluded. Do you really think the economy could absorb that much of an increase in taxes?

$57 billion is spent on the EITC each year. It is the ONLY tax expenditure proven to increase productivity. It pays for itself.

1) Without meaning to, you hit on the problem. Everyone wants their government handout without paying for it. "Gimme gimme gimme, and make that guy over there pay for it."

2) Tax expenditures are socialism. They are government interference in the free market. They are government-enforced behavioral control.

3) Tax expenditures increase the cost of goods and transfer wealth up the food chain. For example, the mortgage interest deducton increases the cost of houses by up to 27 percent. Who benefits from you having to borrow more for a house? Builders, realtors, mortgage brokers and bankers. That's why the real estate industry alone spends over $100 million a year on lobbying.

4) Every tax expenditure has to be offset by higher tax rates and higher borrowing. This is basic math. Deductions, credits, and exemptions are theft from the pockets of other taxpayers.

5) If we balanced the budget so there would be no borrowing, tax rates would be so high we would have a second revolution. And everyone would think those rates are someone else's fault. The blame usually falls on the poor, but we spend twice as much on tax expenditures than we do on welfare programs.

6) We have an insane system where people earning identical incomes pay radically different amounts of tax. You are punished with higher taxes if you don't breed. You are punished with higher taxes if you don't take out a mortgage. You are punished with higher taxes if you don't buy the right kind of refrigerator. Lobbyists pay a **** ton of money to control your behaviours and punish you if you don't comply.

7) A large number of tax expenditures are for special interests who are robbing us blind.

8) If we eliminated tax expenditures, we could LOWER interest rates for EVERYONE, and people earning identical incomes would pay the same amount of taxes.




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.


.

 

[Nostra]

I can balance the budget and solve the debt very easily.

1. Ban all tax expenditures except the EITC. That's $2 trillion of cuts right there.

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


There. Done. Easy peasy.

.

So you want no military.

Moron.

 

[Nostra]

Why is the deficit out of hand only during republican administrations?

This is Biden's deficit. His budget lasts until October.

 

[Couchpotato]

Typical. What's the plan?

what's going to happen or what should happen?

 

[HikerGuy83]

Do you realize how contradictory you are?

I don't take offense at your accusations.

It's a tough place to be in and I get why the clown show in D.C. won't address it.

But it needs to be addressed. Most think tanks (like CATO) say that we have about 10 to 15 years to bring this under control or else it's lights out. And the longer we wait, the more painful it will be all around.

I don't want people on S.S. to lose anything. When my time comes, I want what I paid in. And those who did their part need to be guaranteed what they deserve. But in six or seven years, they are going to take a 25 to 30% cut in benefits if we don't do something now. That or we start funding from the general which is only goint to send the deficit into orbit and that will only last so long.

It's like a tooth that started talking to you a year ago. If it had been treated then.....small repair. NOW.....surgery.

 

[Nostra]

There was no budget.

Pick as many nits as you want. This deficit is on Biden.

 

[Couchpotato]

This is Biden's deficit. His budget lasts until October.

Trump's wont be any better. You are fooling yourself if you think it will. There hasnt been an actual movement to get our spending under control since the early 90's

 

[Nostra]

There was no budget.

There was never a "budget" under Trump's first term, so using your logic he added nothing to the debt.

 

[HikerGuy83]

Supposedly the SS and Medicare programs are separate from the national debt. However, those programs do need shoring up.

They are included in the inbound and outbound when the deficit is calculated. SS does work from a trust fund (lock box). Medicare is not very well funded and the projections are horrid.