Deficit Reduction: As If!

The President's Debt Commission released it's plan for reducing the deficit and the national debt yesterday. It has offended people on both the right and left, all of whom want to stick to their dogma instead of deal with real solutions to real problems. If you have the time, you can read the whole thing HERE.

The report would slay a whole barnyard full of sacred cows, which is what has everyone pissed off. It is obvious that Congress is too gutless, stupid and in the pocket of special interests to ever enact this plan, so why bother talking about it? Well, it is a demonstration of the type of measures that need to be taken if we are going to get serious about dealing with our present deficits, and our more frightening future debts if we don't fix health care, including medicare and medicaid, and social security and quit wasting money on crap that only makes our economy weaker like farm subsidies, and silly tax breaks like the mortgage interest deduction.

If you want to find out if someone, like a politician, is serious about taking on this problem, ask them if they are willing to do ALL (not just the ones that fit their partisan dogma) of the following:
1) Cut military spending, social security, medicare, farm subsidies
2) Make dramatic changes to our health care system the will bring costs under control, even if it means doctors and health insurers make less money
3)Eliminate industry specific tax breaks, including mortgage deductions
4)Reform our tax code, and raise taxes if necessary
5) Eliminate laws against gambling, prostitution and drugs that are unsuccessful, and waste taxpayer dollars on enforcement, when legalization would instead add tax revenue.

I am sure no matter who you are, you probably said "no" to something on the above list. And that's the problem. We add up all the "no's" and we do nothing, and the problem gets worse every year.

WE CAN'T FIX THE BUDGET PROBLEMS WITHOUT DOING ALL OF THE ABOVE!!!!! CAN'T !!!!

Don't believe me? Then play the very realistic BUDGET HERO and try to fix the budget while keeping your cows sacred (If you are a Macro Eco student of mine, this will be your homework soon). You might want to put away the sharp objects first.