Higher taxes or cut frivolous spending

[usmcstinger]

With the debt the left is forcing on us something has to give. We are either going to HAVE TO raise taxes or cut spending. The answer seems obvious to me but few seem courageous enough to try.

1. Cut foreign aid by 80% or more.
2. Stop funding shrimp on a treadmill type shit.
3. Increase oil production and export it.
4. Put salary caps on politicians.
5. Ban fundraising/money in politics. Require PBS to host and air ALL political debates since we fund them (cut out corporate media money pits)
6. Make ALL government contracts publicly bid. No more giving contracts to your buddies who charge you 80 bucks for a toilet seat.
7. Create a section on irs forms for contributions to go DIRECTLY to our national debt and make that program publicly accessible by anyone via the internet (full transparency)
8. Lock down our southern border and institute strick guidelines for work visas.
9. Cut the budget of ALL federal agencies by at least 5%.
10. Add a balanced budget amendment to the constitution.
11. Require ALL spending bills to be accessible for 7 days & to be publicly read on the floor BEFORE any vote is taken.
12. AFTER all that raise taxes incrementally as needed.

These are just thoughts off the top of my head. Point being that anyone, including our elected officials, can solve this problem if they actually wanted to.

You hit the nail on the head. The problem with Socialism is what happens when you run out of other peoples money. Unfortunately our current Government wants to actual go down that road. The "working families" will suffer the most as tax after tax is implemented to pay for this Socialist Agenda.

 

[Mr Natural]

They all want to live in the greatest country in the world but none of them want to pay for it.

 

[BrokeLoser]

They all want to live in the greatest country in the world but none of them want to pay for it.

Are you referring to your coveted pet human wetbacks and the like?

 

[Bobob]

With the debt the left is forcing on us something has to give. We are either going to HAVE TO raise taxes or cut spending. The answer seems obvious to me but few seem courageous enough to try.

1. Cut foreign aid by 80% or more.
2. Stop funding shrimp on a treadmill type shit.
3. Increase oil production and export it.
4. Put salary caps on politicians.
5. Ban fundraising/money in politics. Require PBS to host and air ALL political debates since we fund them (cut out corporate media money pits)
6. Make ALL government contracts publicly bid. No more giving contracts to your buddies who charge you 80 bucks for a toilet seat.
7. Create a section on irs forms for contributions to go DIRECTLY to our national debt and make that program publicly accessible by anyone via the internet (full transparency)
8. Lock down our southern border and institute strick guidelines for work visas.
9. Cut the budget of ALL federal agencies by at least 5%.
10. Add a balanced budget amendment to the constitution.
11. Require ALL spending bills to be accessible for 7 days & to be publicly read on the floor BEFORE any vote is taken.
12. AFTER all that raise taxes incrementally as needed.

These are just thoughts off the top of my head. Point being that anyone, including our elected officials, can solve this problem if they actually wanted to.

What's different now from when Trump cut taxes and did not cut spending?

The fact that rich white propagandists weren’t telling them to be butt hurt

You describe that almost dead dude you sent to the Oval Office

That almost dead dude is no longer in office.

 

[BrokeLoser]

With the debt the left is forcing on us something has to give. We are either going to HAVE TO raise taxes or cut spending. The answer seems obvious to me but few seem courageous enough to try.

1. Cut foreign aid by 80% or more.
2. Stop funding shrimp on a treadmill type shit.
3. Increase oil production and export it.
4. Put salary caps on politicians.
5. Ban fundraising/money in politics. Require PBS to host and air ALL political debates since we fund them (cut out corporate media money pits)
6. Make ALL government contracts publicly bid. No more giving contracts to your buddies who charge you 80 bucks for a toilet seat.
7. Create a section on irs forms for contributions to go DIRECTLY to our national debt and make that program publicly accessible by anyone via the internet (full transparency)
8. Lock down our southern border and institute strick guidelines for work visas.
9. Cut the budget of ALL federal agencies by at least 5%.
10. Add a balanced budget amendment to the constitution.
11. Require ALL spending bills to be accessible for 7 days & to be publicly read on the floor BEFORE any vote is taken.
12. AFTER all that raise taxes incrementally as needed.

These are just thoughts off the top of my head. Point being that anyone, including our elected officials, can solve this problem if they actually wanted to.

What's different now from when Trump cut taxes and did not cut spending?

The fact that rich white propagandists weren’t telling them to be butt hurt

You describe that almost dead dude you sent to the Oval Office

That almost dead dude is no longer in office.

In June, the Crypt Keeper exceeds average life expectancy. Look for the angry fake negro bitch to man the helm soon.
I’m not making this up.

 

[Mr Natural]

Are you referring to your coveted pet human wetbacks and the like?

If they piss you off, then yes.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Make ALL government contracts publicly bid. No more giving contracts to your buddies who charge you 80 bucks for a toilet seat.

All government contracts are publicly bid.
Actually it was a $600 toilet seat specially fabricated for a P-3 Orion aircraft

You saying Home Depot didn't have a toilet seat for a P-3 Orion aircraft on the shelf? Shocking!

All government contracts are NOT publicly bid. Often time they are awarded without ever entering the bidding phase

 

[evenflow1969]

With the debt the left is forcing on us something has to give. We are either going to HAVE TO raise taxes or cut spending. The answer seems obvious to me but few seem courageous enough to try.

1. Cut foreign aid by 80% or more.
2. Stop funding shrimp on a treadmill type shit.
3. Increase oil production and export it.
4. Put salary caps on politicians.
5. Ban fundraising/money in politics. Require PBS to host and air ALL political debates since we fund them (cut out corporate media money pits)
6. Make ALL government contracts publicly bid. No more giving contracts to your buddies who charge you 80 bucks for a toilet seat.
7. Create a section on irs forms for contributions to go DIRECTLY to our national debt and make that program publicly accessible by anyone via the internet (full transparency)
8. Lock down our southern border and institute strick guidelines for work visas.
9. Cut the budget of ALL federal agencies by at least 5%.
10. Add a balanced budget amendment to the constitution.
11. Require ALL spending bills to be accessible for 7 days & to be publicly read on the floor BEFORE any vote is taken.
12. AFTER all that raise taxes incrementally as needed.

These are just thoughts off the top of my head. Point being that anyone, including our elected officials, can solve this problem if they actually wanted to.

It will take both.

 

[alang1216]

Make ALL government contracts publicly bid. No more giving contracts to your buddies who charge you 80 bucks for a toilet seat.

All government contracts are publicly bid.
Actually it was a $600 toilet seat specially fabricated for a P-3 Orion aircraft

You saying Home Depot didn't have a toilet seat for a P-3 Orion aircraft on the shelf? Shocking!

All government contracts are NOT publicly bid. Often time they are awarded without ever entering the bidding phase

Unfortunately all too true. Example. This usually happens at the instigation of political appointees (of both parties) who are looking for shortcuts to get things done. Usually a very bad and wasteful idea.

 

[my2¢]

I'd replace the OP's 12 step program with this simple one:

No member of congress and neither the President can run for re-election if during his/her time in office federal spending has been greater than revenue.

 

[BrokeLoser]

I'd replace the OP's 12 step program with this simple one:

No member of congress and neither the President can run for re-election if during his/her time in office federal spending has been greater than revenue.

No church / God = no value system = no moral compass = no law and order = no accountability = no standard = no ambition to succeed = Debt and overspending to sustain until collapse.
Simple shit for thirdgraders.
Good job LefTardos.

 

[Disir]

With the debt the left is forcing on us something has to give. We are either going to HAVE TO raise taxes or cut spending. The answer seems obvious to me but few seem courageous enough to try.

1. Cut foreign aid by 80% or more.
2. Stop funding shrimp on a treadmill type shit.
3. Increase oil production and export it.
4. Put salary caps on politicians.
5. Ban fundraising/money in politics. Require PBS to host and air ALL political debates since we fund them (cut out corporate media money pits)
6. Make ALL government contracts publicly bid. No more giving contracts to your buddies who charge you 80 bucks for a toilet seat.
7. Create a section on irs forms for contributions to go DIRECTLY to our national debt and make that program publicly accessible by anyone via the internet (full transparency)
8. Lock down our southern border and institute strick guidelines for work visas.
9. Cut the budget of ALL federal agencies by at least 5%.
10. Add a balanced budget amendment to the constitution.
11. Require ALL spending bills to be accessible for 7 days & to be publicly read on the floor BEFORE any vote is taken.
12. AFTER all that raise taxes incrementally as needed.

These are just thoughts off the top of my head. Point being that anyone, including our elected officials, can solve this problem if they actually wanted to.

The only thing I don't agree with is number 10 because that will have unintended consequences and we the people will lose.

I too agree in principle. However, 1, 3, and 9 may also have unintended consequences.

On my end the consequences for 1 are intentional. For 3, I am not a fan of fracking. We should nationalize it which would solve a few problems. I listed two programs that if cut might be able to help with cutting 5% off of the rest.

I do not want to push any country into somebody else's sphere, so I don't agree with cutting aid by 80%.

Too late.
I don't believe in paying someone to be friends.

Me either, but it is not about friendship. It is about our influence.

This is about exploitation for multinational corporations.


The US repeatedly fails to hold these other countries accountable for the amount of money that is being spent. Tax dollars should not be handed out for "influence".

In areas (Latin America, Africa) where the Chinese and Russians have "influence" there are things that are being built which help the citizens (electricity, water etc.) and that is driving it. The US doesn't want to be held accountable for the money that they are spending which is specifically for exploitation for corps and then when it's time for a regime change for those same corps you want our own to go fight that battle.

When it comes to countries like El Salvadore, Guatamala and Honduras then I want an end date on that shit. Go in to do A, B, C and D. I want to know exactly what the money was spent on down to the last dollar. I want the goals outlined/measurable and I want that to be accomplished by a specific date. And then we are done. We ask nothing less from the money that is spent in the US, right?! That should already have been done and the US citizens should be able to access that information and it should be transparent. No guesswork.

 

[Coyote]

With the debt the left is forcing on us something has to give. We are either going to HAVE TO raise taxes or cut spending. The answer seems obvious to me but few seem courageous enough to try.

1. Cut foreign aid by 80% or more.
2. Stop funding shrimp on a treadmill type shit.
3. Increase oil production and export it.
4. Put salary caps on politicians.
5. Ban fundraising/money in politics. Require PBS to host and air ALL political debates since we fund them (cut out corporate media money pits)
6. Make ALL government contracts publicly bid. No more giving contracts to your buddies who charge you 80 bucks for a toilet seat.
7. Create a section on irs forms for contributions to go DIRECTLY to our national debt and make that program publicly accessible by anyone via the internet (full transparency)
8. Lock down our southern border and institute strick guidelines for work visas.
9. Cut the budget of ALL federal agencies by at least 5%.
10. Add a balanced budget amendment to the constitution.
11. Require ALL spending bills to be accessible for 7 days & to be publicly read on the floor BEFORE any vote is taken.
12. AFTER all that raise taxes incrementally as needed.

These are just thoughts off the top of my head. Point being that anyone, including our elected officials, can solve this problem if they actually wanted to.

Why either/or? Why not both?

1. I think a across the board cut by that amount would undermine our national interests. "Foreign Aid" is a catchall that covers many different types of aid, including those that help advance our own interests abroad or increase stability. It's easy to say cut foreign aid, I think most people don't really realize what it entails or they think the US can live in a vacuum, isolated from what goes on abroad. When that happens, another power will step in, like China.

2. What bill was that in? Another reality check here...stuff like that, is easy to pick out and hold up for public outrage, like many different ridiculous our outrageous funding requests. But spending bills for science (and correct me if I'm wrong) are usually given out like "block grants" and the determinations on what projects are funded are determined by a competitive process overseen by scientific panels. Do you really want the federal government to determine what specific projects should or should not be funded? I don't.

3. Why export it? We'll just use it up quicker. Why do we need to increase production at this point?

4. Sure...but tie it to cost of living. Living in DC is very expensive.

5. Sure. PBS already airs political debates on both sides. No need to require it. PBS is just the convenient rightwing punching bag. You can thank Citizens United for the rest. We really need to reduce money in politics. Elected officials spend more time accumulating "war chests" now than doing their job imo.

6&7. Sounds good.

8. We need comprehensive bipartisan immigration reform, not just "lock down the border".

9. Why? Aren't they already operating on budget cuts...for some time now??

10. No. Finance at that level doesn't operate like a checkbook. I think that would cause more problems than it would fix;

11. Raise taxes as appropriate from the start.

I would add that for one, it is utterly ironic that the right is suddenly concerned again about debt. And also, decreased spending should not occur while the economy is still trying to recover and joblessness still high. The time to cut spending, imo, is when it's booming and people and businesses don't need help.

 

[Coyote]

Ever notice how the debt is only a problem when Democrats are running things?

No, the debt has always been a problem for me. If you want to address someone else's duplicity on debt create a thread about it.
I have consistently said we don't need stimulus we need the government to GET OUT OF THE WAY

I agree, you're one of the very few who bitched about it during the Trump administration. Maybe the only one.

 

[Coyote]

With the debt the left is forcing on us something has to give. We are either going to HAVE TO raise taxes or cut spending. The answer seems obvious to me but few seem courageous enough to try.

1. Cut foreign aid by 80% or more.
2. Stop funding shrimp on a treadmill type shit.
3. Increase oil production and export it.
4. Put salary caps on politicians.
5. Ban fundraising/money in politics. Require PBS to host and air ALL political debates since we fund them (cut out corporate media money pits)
6. Make ALL government contracts publicly bid. No more giving contracts to your buddies who charge you 80 bucks for a toilet seat.
7. Create a section on irs forms for contributions to go DIRECTLY to our national debt and make that program publicly accessible by anyone via the internet (full transparency)
8. Lock down our southern border and institute strick guidelines for work visas.
9. Cut the budget of ALL federal agencies by at least 5%.
10. Add a balanced budget amendment to the constitution.
11. Require ALL spending bills to be accessible for 7 days & to be publicly read on the floor BEFORE any vote is taken.
12. AFTER all that raise taxes incrementally as needed.

These are just thoughts off the top of my head. Point being that anyone, including our elected officials, can solve this problem if they actually wanted to.

The only thing I don't agree with is number 10 because that will have unintended consequences and we the people will lose.

I too agree in principle. However, 1, 3, and 9 may also have unintended consequences.

On my end the consequences for 1 are intentional. For 3, I am not a fan of fracking. We should nationalize it which would solve a few problems. I listed two programs that if cut might be able to help with cutting 5% off of the rest.

I do not want to push any country into somebody else's sphere, so I don't agree with cutting aid by 80%.

Too late.
I don't believe in paying someone to be friends.

Me either, but it is not about friendship. It is about our influence.

This is about exploitation for multinational corporations.


The US repeatedly fails to hold these other countries accountable for the amount of money that is being spent. Tax dollars should not be handed out for "influence".

In areas (Latin America, Africa) where the Chinese and Russians have "influence" there are things that are being built which help the citizens (electricity, water etc.) and that is driving it. The US doesn't want to be held accountable for the money that they are spending which is specifically for exploitation for corps and then when it's time for a regime change for those same corps you want our own to go fight that battle.

Interesting...essentially, the U.S. still just gives money to...governments right? No accountability no real projects accomplished? In what way is it spent for corporate exploitation? This is a different angle on it, and I'm interested in hearing more.

I know there has been a big issue with corruption when giving money to government entities to then use and it often does not get spent on the people and their needs. Is that the sort of thing your referring to?

When it comes to countries like El Salvadore, Guatamala and Honduras then I want an end date on that shit. Go in to do A, B, C and D. I want to know exactly what the money was spent on down to the last dollar. I want the goals outlined/measurable and I want that to be accomplished by a specific date. And then we are done. We ask nothing less from the money that is spent in the US, right?! That should already have been done and the US citizens should be able to access that information and it should be transparent. No guesswork.

Agree.

 

[AFrench2]

Higher taxes or cut frivolous spending-TopicTitle

Both.

 

[Disir]

With the debt the left is forcing on us something has to give. We are either going to HAVE TO raise taxes or cut spending. The answer seems obvious to me but few seem courageous enough to try.

1. Cut foreign aid by 80% or more.
2. Stop funding shrimp on a treadmill type shit.
3. Increase oil production and export it.
4. Put salary caps on politicians.
5. Ban fundraising/money in politics. Require PBS to host and air ALL political debates since we fund them (cut out corporate media money pits)
6. Make ALL government contracts publicly bid. No more giving contracts to your buddies who charge you 80 bucks for a toilet seat.
7. Create a section on irs forms for contributions to go DIRECTLY to our national debt and make that program publicly accessible by anyone via the internet (full transparency)
8. Lock down our southern border and institute strick guidelines for work visas.
9. Cut the budget of ALL federal agencies by at least 5%.
10. Add a balanced budget amendment to the constitution.
11. Require ALL spending bills to be accessible for 7 days & to be publicly read on the floor BEFORE any vote is taken.
12. AFTER all that raise taxes incrementally as needed.

These are just thoughts off the top of my head. Point being that anyone, including our elected officials, can solve this problem if they actually wanted to.

The only thing I don't agree with is number 10 because that will have unintended consequences and we the people will lose.

I too agree in principle. However, 1, 3, and 9 may also have unintended consequences.

On my end the consequences for 1 are intentional. For 3, I am not a fan of fracking. We should nationalize it which would solve a few problems. I listed two programs that if cut might be able to help with cutting 5% off of the rest.

I do not want to push any country into somebody else's sphere, so I don't agree with cutting aid by 80%.

Too late.
I don't believe in paying someone to be friends.

Me either, but it is not about friendship. It is about our influence.

This is about exploitation for multinational corporations.


The US repeatedly fails to hold these other countries accountable for the amount of money that is being spent. Tax dollars should not be handed out for "influence".

In areas (Latin America, Africa) where the Chinese and Russians have "influence" there are things that are being built which help the citizens (electricity, water etc.) and that is driving it. The US doesn't want to be held accountable for the money that they are spending which is specifically for exploitation for corps and then when it's time for a regime change for those same corps you want our own to go fight that battle.

Interesting...essentially, the U.S. still just gives money to...governments right? No accountability no real projects accomplished? In what way is it spent for corporate exploitation? This is a different angle on it, and I'm interested in hearing more.

I know there has been a big issue with corruption when giving money to government entities to then use and it often does not get spent on the people and their needs. Is that the sort of thing your referring to?

When it comes to countries like El Salvadore, Guatamala and Honduras then I want an end date on that shit. Go in to do A, B, C and D. I want to know exactly what the money was spent on down to the last dollar. I want the goals outlined/measurable and I want that to be accomplished by a specific date. And then we are done. We ask nothing less from the money that is spent in the US, right?! That should already have been done and the US citizens should be able to access that information and it should be transparent. No guesswork.

Agree.

How familiar are you with the history of USAID? Not what it says on their pretty little website but with the actual history?

 

[Coyote]

With the debt the left is forcing on us something has to give. We are either going to HAVE TO raise taxes or cut spending. The answer seems obvious to me but few seem courageous enough to try.

1. Cut foreign aid by 80% or more.
2. Stop funding shrimp on a treadmill type shit.
3. Increase oil production and export it.
4. Put salary caps on politicians.
5. Ban fundraising/money in politics. Require PBS to host and air ALL political debates since we fund them (cut out corporate media money pits)
6. Make ALL government contracts publicly bid. No more giving contracts to your buddies who charge you 80 bucks for a toilet seat.
7. Create a section on irs forms for contributions to go DIRECTLY to our national debt and make that program publicly accessible by anyone via the internet (full transparency)
8. Lock down our southern border and institute strick guidelines for work visas.
9. Cut the budget of ALL federal agencies by at least 5%.
10. Add a balanced budget amendment to the constitution.
11. Require ALL spending bills to be accessible for 7 days & to be publicly read on the floor BEFORE any vote is taken.
12. AFTER all that raise taxes incrementally as needed.

These are just thoughts off the top of my head. Point being that anyone, including our elected officials, can solve this problem if they actually wanted to.

The only thing I don't agree with is number 10 because that will have unintended consequences and we the people will lose.

I too agree in principle. However, 1, 3, and 9 may also have unintended consequences.

On my end the consequences for 1 are intentional. For 3, I am not a fan of fracking. We should nationalize it which would solve a few problems. I listed two programs that if cut might be able to help with cutting 5% off of the rest.

I do not want to push any country into somebody else's sphere, so I don't agree with cutting aid by 80%.

Too late.
I don't believe in paying someone to be friends.

Me either, but it is not about friendship. It is about our influence.

This is about exploitation for multinational corporations.


The US repeatedly fails to hold these other countries accountable for the amount of money that is being spent. Tax dollars should not be handed out for "influence".

In areas (Latin America, Africa) where the Chinese and Russians have "influence" there are things that are being built which help the citizens (electricity, water etc.) and that is driving it. The US doesn't want to be held accountable for the money that they are spending which is specifically for exploitation for corps and then when it's time for a regime change for those same corps you want our own to go fight that battle.

Interesting...essentially, the U.S. still just gives money to...governments right? No accountability no real projects accomplished? In what way is it spent for corporate exploitation? This is a different angle on it, and I'm interested in hearing more.

I know there has been a big issue with corruption when giving money to government entities to then use and it often does not get spent on the people and their needs. Is that the sort of thing your referring to?

When it comes to countries like El Salvadore, Guatamala and Honduras then I want an end date on that shit. Go in to do A, B, C and D. I want to know exactly what the money was spent on down to the last dollar. I want the goals outlined/measurable and I want that to be accomplished by a specific date. And then we are done. We ask nothing less from the money that is spent in the US, right?! That should already have been done and the US citizens should be able to access that information and it should be transparent. No guesswork.

Agree.

How familiar are you with the history of USAID? Not what it says on their pretty little webpage but with the actual history?

Not that much.

 

[Disir]

With the debt the left is forcing on us something has to give. We are either going to HAVE TO raise taxes or cut spending. The answer seems obvious to me but few seem courageous enough to try.

1. Cut foreign aid by 80% or more.
2. Stop funding shrimp on a treadmill type shit.
3. Increase oil production and export it.
4. Put salary caps on politicians.
5. Ban fundraising/money in politics. Require PBS to host and air ALL political debates since we fund them (cut out corporate media money pits)
6. Make ALL government contracts publicly bid. No more giving contracts to your buddies who charge you 80 bucks for a toilet seat.
7. Create a section on irs forms for contributions to go DIRECTLY to our national debt and make that program publicly accessible by anyone via the internet (full transparency)
8. Lock down our southern border and institute strick guidelines for work visas.
9. Cut the budget of ALL federal agencies by at least 5%.
10. Add a balanced budget amendment to the constitution.
11. Require ALL spending bills to be accessible for 7 days & to be publicly read on the floor BEFORE any vote is taken.
12. AFTER all that raise taxes incrementally as needed.

These are just thoughts off the top of my head. Point being that anyone, including our elected officials, can solve this problem if they actually wanted to.

The only thing I don't agree with is number 10 because that will have unintended consequences and we the people will lose.

I too agree in principle. However, 1, 3, and 9 may also have unintended consequences.

On my end the consequences for 1 are intentional. For 3, I am not a fan of fracking. We should nationalize it which would solve a few problems. I listed two programs that if cut might be able to help with cutting 5% off of the rest.

I do not want to push any country into somebody else's sphere, so I don't agree with cutting aid by 80%.

Too late.
I don't believe in paying someone to be friends.

Me either, but it is not about friendship. It is about our influence.

This is about exploitation for multinational corporations.


The US repeatedly fails to hold these other countries accountable for the amount of money that is being spent. Tax dollars should not be handed out for "influence".

In areas (Latin America, Africa) where the Chinese and Russians have "influence" there are things that are being built which help the citizens (electricity, water etc.) and that is driving it. The US doesn't want to be held accountable for the money that they are spending which is specifically for exploitation for corps and then when it's time for a regime change for those same corps you want our own to go fight that battle.

Interesting...essentially, the U.S. still just gives money to...governments right? No accountability no real projects accomplished? In what way is it spent for corporate exploitation? This is a different angle on it, and I'm interested in hearing more.

I know there has been a big issue with corruption when giving money to government entities to then use and it often does not get spent on the people and their needs. Is that the sort of thing your referring to?

When it comes to countries like El Salvadore, Guatamala and Honduras then I want an end date on that shit. Go in to do A, B, C and D. I want to know exactly what the money was spent on down to the last dollar. I want the goals outlined/measurable and I want that to be accomplished by a specific date. And then we are done. We ask nothing less from the money that is spent in the US, right?! That should already have been done and the US citizens should be able to access that information and it should be transparent. No guesswork.

Agree.

How familiar are you with the history of USAID? Not what it says on their pretty little webpage but with the actual history?

Not that mu

Ok. Are you familiar with the "American interests" such as mining companies and oil companies etc that have been operating in places like Central/South America?

 

[Bobob]

With the debt the left is forcing on us something has to give. We are either going to HAVE TO raise taxes or cut spending. The answer seems obvious to me but few seem courageous enough to try.

1. Cut foreign aid by 80% or more.
2. Stop funding shrimp on a treadmill type shit.
3. Increase oil production and export it.
4. Put salary caps on politicians.
5. Ban fundraising/money in politics. Require PBS to host and air ALL political debates since we fund them (cut out corporate media money pits)
6. Make ALL government contracts publicly bid. No more giving contracts to your buddies who charge you 80 bucks for a toilet seat.
7. Create a section on irs forms for contributions to go DIRECTLY to our national debt and make that program publicly accessible by anyone via the internet (full transparency)
8. Lock down our southern border and institute strick guidelines for work visas.
9. Cut the budget of ALL federal agencies by at least 5%.
10. Add a balanced budget amendment to the constitution.
11. Require ALL spending bills to be accessible for 7 days & to be publicly read on the floor BEFORE any vote is taken.
12. AFTER all that raise taxes incrementally as needed.

These are just thoughts off the top of my head. Point being that anyone, including our elected officials, can solve this problem if they actually wanted to.

The only thing I don't agree with is number 10 because that will have unintended consequences and we the people will lose.

I too agree in principle. However, 1, 3, and 9 may also have unintended consequences.

On my end the consequences for 1 are intentional. For 3, I am not a fan of fracking. We should nationalize it which would solve a few problems. I listed two programs that if cut might be able to help with cutting 5% off of the rest.

I do not want to push any country into somebody else's sphere, so I don't agree with cutting aid by 80%.

Too late.
I don't believe in paying someone to be friends.

Me either, but it is not about friendship. It is about our influence.

This is about exploitation for multinational corporations.


The US repeatedly fails to hold these other countries accountable for the amount of money that is being spent. Tax dollars should not be handed out for "influence".

In areas (Latin America, Africa) where the Chinese and Russians have "influence" there are things that are being built which help the citizens (electricity, water etc.) and that is driving it. The US doesn't want to be held accountable for the money that they are spending which is specifically for exploitation for corps and then when it's time for a regime change for those same corps you want our own to go fight that battle.

When it comes to countries like El Salvadore, Guatamala and Honduras then I want an end date on that shit. Go in to do A, B, C and D. I want to know exactly what the money was spent on down to the last dollar. I want the goals outlined/measurable and I want that to be accomplished by a specific date. And then we are done. We ask nothing less from the money that is spent in the US, right?! That should already have been done and the US citizens should be able to access that information and it should be transparent. No guesswork.

Well, of course, these countries have to be held responsible for the funds that we give them. That goes without saying and that has been my argument right along.
We send money to Central America for a particular purpose (civilian population) and we don't receive any accountability, the money or goods disappear and these poor people land on our doorstep. Definitely an issue.