Fix the Budget

[amyrouse]

Here is your chance.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/11/13/weekinreview/deficits-graphic.html

[mattymatt79]

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/11/13/weekinreview/deficits-graphic.html?choices=zzxrdk00

There you go. Slash the absolute *bleep* out of government; aid, military, social programs, everything. Slash and we save. Simple.

[sigmapi1501]

Wait... I thought less taxes meant we magically had MORE money....? I've been duped!

[amyrouse]

I'm with you, SigmaPi.  Apparently we need to tax the poor to feed the rich... unless you're Rand Paul and you believe there are no rich and no poor.  Or that we need to be concerned with the poor rich people getting taxed so much that they can't afford to buy a fifth yacht therefore cheating the little people out of their jobs.  There is the solution... we need to keep the rich rich so that we can be assured everyone will have a job making stuff for the rich!   Who cares about the people who can't afford to pay health insurance premiums on minimum wage jobs... they should be happy that the rich are rich enough to buy their products otherwise they wouldn't have a job in the first place! 

[sigmapi1501]

Also if you want to cut even a penny from defense spending, you hate America.

[mattymatt79]

Taxation is much more complicated than that and if you think it's "Rich get richer" then you're absurdly mistaken.

The "Rich" are classifed in America anyone making over 200K a year. Most sucessful small buisness owners make this much and are far from rich. Those people are the driving force in the economy that we have created that create jobs. Most of our workforce is employed by some sort of small buisness. By allowing those people to have less tax liability, we allow them to employ more people. It's simple math. Now as far as Social Security; it's bankrupt, you and I will never see any of the money we've put into it. Why not now since there is still time allow for me instead to invest it into a private 401k or mutal fund or SOMETHING other than a failed government program? Foreign aid, why are we spending billions of dollars on other countries when we have people in our own country that need help? Yes that's a crappy way of thinking of things, but honestly, I'd rather see my neighbor not have to go without in order for someone to feel better. Also, studies have shown multiple times that if taxes are down, individual donations to charity and philanthropy go up. I'd rather know that the money I pay into taxes go to actually help someone here. Not left into some government chest to be distributed how they see fit or to just sit there. Look at how poorly the stimulus went, billions of dollars are still just sitting. Look at how poorly TARP went, bail out some *bleep* banks that caused the problem in the first place yet getting a small buisness loan or personal loan is still extremely difficult. Military? Slash it. Why in the hell do we have bases all over the damn world? Why are we in wars that should have never have started in the first place. Why are we paying $75 for a lightbulb? Why are government employees getting raises and why are so many of them well over 100k a year for salary. Also, since they are in a public sector union they can't be fired. Slash it. Slash it all. Become isolationists again. Slash our taxes and slash this needless spending. 2 million dollars of taxpayer money to build a tunnel for turtles? Millions and millions of dollars on other useless pet projects all under the banner of social welfare?

The government has proven time and time and time again that it can't run anything efficently or within the structured budget. Health care is going to be zero different. If the government got out of the way (including their propped up insurance companies, like Kaiser) fees for HEALTH CARE would be lower. If the government got out of subsadies for farmers, this inflated price we pay would be lower. Can you not see that? Why the hell should we as tax payers pay for things like that? Why the hell did we bail out GM, Ford, Chrystler when they make a *bleep* product that no one wants? Why the hell are we paying for their overpriced union thug workforce that is unable to produce a product? Our tax money goes to pay all of these things, and yet, no where in the constitution is this allowed. Yet, we constantly do these things. And you wonder why I support people like Ron and Rand Paul? They too want the government out of our lives and let us live as we should live not as slaves to a failed over and over and over again system.

Many areas in the country have proved time and time again that a volunteer fire department has much better response time as well as quality. Why? Because in this example the people are not paid and are volunteered. Your tax money doesn't go to fund it. The bill that Reid is proposing would force ALL police and firefighters under a monopoly bargaining system, thus getting rid of a volunteer fire department. Get rid of that? Your money now goes to support that. At some point in time the amount of money we pay out, goes far to thin. Why do you think we're in debt to China on our 30 year bond treasuries? Why do you think our 10 year treasuries are worth next to nothing? We borrow money we can't pay back to support multiple programs that we can't pay for.

You may look at that as "oh I don't care for the poor". Why should I trust a government to care for people that can't seem to care for itself. I'd rather take that tax money that's been given out and percentages taken to run programs and pay for people working it, and instead donate it to my church that has almost zero overhead and that money actually goes to help people. Again, lower money going to a worthless government, means more money in my pocket to give to organizations I desire.

Like I said, slash it. Slash it all. Get rid of all of it that can't seem to find it's way out of a paperbag. Put power back into the people as to how they decide to live their life, people in general would be happier and wealthier.

[amyrouse]

Taxation is much more complicated than that and if you think it's "Rich get richer" then you're absurdly mistaken.

I'm not absurdly mistaken about anything here.  You have been nothing but combative ever since I first remembered reading a post from you where you dismissed anyone having a different opinion as "sheeple."

The "Rich" are classifed in America anyone making over 200K a year. Most sucessful small buisness owners make this much and are far from rich.

Why are government employees getting raises and why are so many of them well over 100k a year for salary.

But if they are only making over 100k a year, then wouldn't that make them far from rich?  Your words, not mine.

I am concerned with the poor.  I'm concerned about people who are struggling to make it who are worried about why trickle down economics doesn't work... never has and never will.  The problem with capitalism is that everything hinges on the almighty dollar, and the more dollars you have, the more power and control you have over your life. 

[mattymatt79]

The point of the government employees making over 100k was the fact that they are getting raises. Why should people in a position of public service be making much more than people outside of the government.

If you read what I wrote you'd see that I actually agree with you on some points. What is wrong though is that our government is obscenely bloated to a point where it's unsustainable. Take as a subset, the state of California; they're so far into the red, why should the federal government which runs on our tax money bail out a state government that can't run itself. It's the same thing with everything else. Too big to fail should be removed from our vocabulary.

Trickle down economics works if spending stops and saving happens. Same theory that Keynesism works if during the good times to get out of the bad you save. Neither are practiced though the way they're supposed too. Capitalism will work just fine if the markets and the markets alone would be allowed to work the way they were supposed too. The broken window is still broke and the shop owner still needs to fix it, regardless if that creates more work for the window maker.

"A May 16, 2006 editorial in the Wall St. Journal stated, "The Pacific Research Institute has crunched the tax numbers in all 50 states and published the 'U.S. Economic Freedom Index' ranking all states according to how friendly or unfriendly their policies were toward free enterprise... In 2005, per capita personal income grew 31% faster in the 15 most economically free states than it did in the 15 states at the bottom of the list. And employment growth was a staggering 216% higher in the most free states." "

Free economy means free states, and free states means a better economy. Capitalism is a sense of freedom. Saving means in some ways investment, because even if you save your money in a bank, that interest gained comes from the bank investing in something else.

[Falconer02]

Holy hell, Amy. This is just great! Good find! I fixed the projected 2015 shortfall, but not the 2030. By 2040, it'd probably be good.

[healthfreedom]

Goverment spending is destroying this country's economic base. It will not stop until we get a new president that LOVES America, and a congress filled with patriotic members.

[fusion61]

At this point, it doesn't matter what party he ir she is from, the elected president must really do something about it and not just talk about it. Action!!!!

[sigmapi1501]

Goverment spending is destroying this country's economic base. It will not stop until we get a new president that LOVES America, and a congress filled with patriotic members.

Another Rush Robot

[Falconer02]

Indeed.

[2persian4u]

This is an awesome puzzle! Great find OP! Although with all of the controversy each of these cuts would cause.. I don't think we'll ever get out of debt.

[sflynt]

Oh wow! How did you find that? Thats awesome, Amy. Great find