Who REALLY wanted to shut down the government?

[Oldestyle]

We paid for SS & Medicare, they can't be cut.
If you cut Welfare and Medicaid there is no "social safety net"

Here is how I would start paying down the Debt:

1. Add a 4% Federal Sales Tax on all sales (gains ~400b/yr)
2. Add a 0.1%? financial transaction tax on ALL financial buy/sell transactions (stocks, bonds, derivatives, bitcoin, etc.) (gains 777b/yr, see link below)
3. Add a Remittance Tax on all money sent out of the US (gains ~$150b/yr, see link below)
4. Remove the cap on SS tax, and raise the ages from 62/67 to 63/68 (saves SS)
5. Raise the tax and co-pay for Medicare (fix Medicare some way)
6. Add a co-pay for Medicaid (no free stuff)
7. So if all of the above taxes were implemented, the $1T Budget Deficit would become a $500b surplus to start paying down the $32T Debt

Financial Transactions Tax: What You Need to Know - SmartAsset | SmartAsset

A financial transactions tax is levied on trades made of stocks, bonds, derivatives and other financial products. It is favored by progressives.

smartasset.com

The United States Loses $150 Billion Annually in Remittances

Many Americans know very little, if anything, about “remittances,” (also known as “remittance payments”) and how they affect the U.S. economy. The term “remittance” refers to money earned in the United States that is transferred to relatives, friends or business associates who are still abroad...

www.fairus.org

With all due respect, Kyzr? Giving the Federal Government more money simply means they'll waste more money. You can't tax your way out of a deficit when Government keeps spending more money. It's akin to filling a bucket with water that has huge holes in it. You can pour more water in but until you fix the holes you're never going to fix the problem.

 

[Father O'Blivion]

The border is open. Anyone claiming that it isn't is lying to themselves.
How exactly is it that you think hospitals "absorb" the cost on indigent care? They pass that cost along to the American people who DO have health insurance. They either do that or they close.

Of course they do, but it is private, not govt. spending.

 

[Oldestyle]

Of course they do, but it is private, not govt. spending.

Hello? In case you haven't noticed, Father...the US Government is now in the healthcare business. Those costs are going to be picked up by both private businesses (and then passed along to we the consumer!) and by the Federal Government (and tacked onto the debt that we taxpayers already owe)!

 

[Father O'Blivion]

Hello? In case you haven't noticed, Father...the US Government is now in the healthcare business. Those costs are going to be picked up by both private businesses (and then passed along to we the consumer!) and by the Federal Government (and tacked onto the debt that we taxpayers already owe)!

How are those costs picked up by the govt.?

 

[Concerned American]

Trump doesn't control Congress. The fact is that if the Government is shut down...the GOP will get the blame because the Democrats have the Main Stream Media in their back pockets and that will be the narrative that's put out there. What Bowman did simply illustrates that the Democrats KNOW this and desperately want it to happen! They'd rather have that as the topic of discussion than how badly their policies are hurting the country!

In spite of the fact that they are voting lock step in opposition to anything the republicans present. Bipartisan, my ass. Compromise? BS!

 

[Catsnmeters]

After months of Democrats talking nonstop about how it's the GOP that wants to shut down the government...was anyone else struck by the irony of watching Democratic Congressman Bowman pull a fire alarm in order to halt the vote to pass a bill that kept government funded? All of that posturing about how "evil" Republicans wanted to deny monies to people dependent on government went right out the window when "The Squad" and Democrats didn't get what they really wanted...which was a shut down that they could then blame on the GOP!

It was an accident.

 

[kyzr]

With all due respect, Kyzr? Giving the Federal Government more money simply means they'll waste more money. You can't tax your way out of a deficit when Government keeps spending more money. It's akin to filling a bucket with water that has huge holes in it. You can pour more water in but until you fix the holes you're never going to fix the problem.

Agreed. I also recommend a 2nd "Grace Commission" to make recommendations how to reduce costs, including cutting the size of government. Otherwise no one ever cuts anything.

2021 Federal Budget
Outlays $4.88T
Receipts $3.86T
Deficit $1.02T

Discretionary Spending
Defense $753b
Non-defense $733b
Total $1.49T

Mandatory Spending
Social Security $1,115b
Medicare 746b
Medicaid 452b
Other 660b
Interest on Debt 379b (exploding up toward $2T)
Total $3.39T

 

[Lord Long Rod]

I wanted to shut down the government!

 

[Concerned American]

Agreed. I also recommend a 2nd "Grace Commission" to make recommendations how to reduce costs, including cutting the size of government. Otherwise no one ever cuts anything.

2021 Federal Budget
Outlays $4.88T
Receipts $3.86T
Deficit $1.02T

Discretionary Spending
Defense $753b
Non-defense $733b
Total $1.49T

Mandatory Spending
Social Security $1,115b
Medicare 746b
Medicaid 452b
Other 660b
Interest on Debt 379b (exploding up toward $2T)
Total $3.39T

Bottom line -- we should enact a "balanced budget amendment." That would prevent what we saw happen the last time the US had a budget surplus. They frittered it away without so much as a dime going to pay down the debt. I agree with Oldestyle, no more taxes. Make cuts to everything--at least ten percent from every department in government. No more foreign aid until the US budget is balanced and the debt is paid off. Social programs for ONLY families with children with strict restrictions on how it is allotted and deportation of any illegal alien in the country. This country has to get back on its feet before any more aid is expended. Charity begins at home.

 

[Oldestyle]

Agreed. I also recommend a 2nd "Grace Commission" to make recommendations how to reduce costs, including cutting the size of government. Otherwise no one ever cuts anything.

2021 Federal Budget
Outlays $4.88T
Receipts $3.86T
Deficit $1.02T

Discretionary Spending
Defense $753b
Non-defense $733b
Total $1.49T

Mandatory Spending
Social Security $1,115b
Medicare 746b
Medicaid 452b
Other 660b
Interest on Debt 379b (exploding up toward $2T)
Total $3.39T

Screw appointing another "commission"! Let's keep it simple. If this was in the Private Sector the approach would be to sit the different department heads down at a meeting and inform them that cuts needed to be made or the company would be in bankruptcy. Therefore each department needs to cut 10% of their budget. Period. It's your department...you know where the waste is...get rid of it! If you can't? You're fired and we'll promote someone who can! Government doesn't do that because we don't MAKE THEM!