I propose...

Couple of problems.

1. The proposal by the Republicans is a sham as is Obama's. We will still run a deficit over the next 5 years of over $300 Billion (Obama has us at $380 Billion but most of that are tax increases). The greatest costs to entitlement programs will be after that 5 year period. The assumptions by Obama is rather optimistic economically.

2. You cannot balance the budget without addressing entitlements. Obama did not address entitlements and Republicans are scared to. Without doing this, any decrease in spending like trying to fight a forest fire with a small bucket of water.

3. Reduction in pay for federal employees is a tricky issue as is reducing the workforce. Take some areas of government understaffed like the Veterans Affairs. Because of the workload, they will hit a million backlogged cases sometime this year to serve our veterans and those coming home from Iraq and Afganistan. If you look at every proposal, no one even comes close to the VA.

Rather than try to shoot a cannon in hopes of accomplishing the fake numbers of the Republicans and Democrats, use a scalpel and actually address the actual problems in the Federal Government.

BTW, I am against the AMT as you mentioned. However, playing with the tax code to give the government more money to waste is not good in a down economy. This should be addressed, but it should be put on hold as any other tax increase should.

Don't pay attention to either side. They are giving fake numbers to solve a real problem, but they are not realistic about the problem enough to truly solve it.

 

Tell you what...

If you can afford a 10% cut in pay... Go ahead and offer *yours*! :tongue3:

As Ruiz says Entitlements *must* be Addressed.

As well as Foreign Aid. Especially, to countries that are not supportive of US Policies.

Further, 100 Billion is peanuts. Unless you're doin it *this* year alone.

 

I propose pulling all the troops home and closing all US embassies. This would save a trillion a year and still permit us to defend our borders. The Navy would return to its original mission of protecting US borders, keeping the sea lanes open and killing pirates.

 

How about simply sticking with the current budget until inflation and the gdp grows to ballance it. OK, I admit, the current budget is incredibly bloated. If we could return to the 2008 budget that would be much better.

If the government would simply freeze spending at current dollar levels the country could grow and catch up.

I also don't know why the budget can't be on a single page. List the cabinets and how much they get. Even defense. Thell the Army they get x number of dollars and then let them decide how to spend it. If they want a pay raise, they cut the number of troops or eliminate expenses somewhere else. Then some congressman would never force them to buy stuff they don't want simply because of who's district the manufacturing takes place in.

Heaven forbid we allow common sense in government.

 

The problem with this is that about 1/3rd of our budget is just to interest payments. If we did nothing today, that would continue to grow. My stats are old and I do not have newer stats on the rate of interest growth, but the Government Accounting Office (GAO) estimated that by 2040, we would not be able to pay anything but the interest. I have heard stats saying this is not moved up substantially, but I cannot substantiate those statistics.

Thus, you cannot just let the private sector grow and hold the line on spending, you have to pay down the debt.

Unfortunately, most Republicans and Democrats are not taking this budget mess serious. They can either make rational cuts now or have a crisis where they will be forced to make cuts in a crisis. I am for more measured and rational cuts now to avoid a bigger crisis later.

 

Could cut Social Security costs by handing out ciggybutt samples in high schools. <G>

 

We seriously need to cut defense expenditures. We should have a lean and efficient military, not a bloated relic from the cold war.

 

I am for cutting the military spending as well as everything else. Nothing should be considered a sacred cow. we are broke and everything needs cutting with no new spending no increased spending. Education (which should be done away with at the federal level) entitlements (same thing) everything.

 

Why is military pay off-limits? Have you seen what it is lately?

And what's wrong with across-the-board reductions in all Federal programs?

And how much of the Federal budget is individual/group/corporate welfare? Why isn't the cost of welfare being discussed in the media and in congress?

 

Agree.

------------------

 

Because they are in harms way. In fact they need a pay raise and a raise in benefits.

 

Yes they are in harm’s way, some of them anyway. Yes they deserve to be paid and taken care of when they come back home. I am a veteran myself and appreciate all they do, but they are also all volunteers. No one has been drafted in the United States in 40 years or so now.

An E-1 soldier, a basic recruit makes a base salary of $1467 per month. That is a soldier who could be only 17 if he went in on an early enlistment. He could be fresh out of high school. No experience needed. By the time they are through with basic and ready for their unit they should be at least E-3 unless they got into trouble along the way. They will then be making $1950 per month. Now that is for a basic private living in the barracks and eating in the mess hall. If he has dependents and lives off base at Fort Bragg here in North Carolina he gets an additional $990 in housing allowance. If he does not eat in the mess hall he can draw another $325.04 in food allowance.

Of course if he is deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan he can draw another $475 per month in combat pay and family separation allowance, but taking just what he can make while home in the states it comes up to $3265 per month. Of course the housing and food allowances are not taxed as income either so that helps and he gets annual benefits like a clothing allowance of $531.80. It all adds up to right at $40,000 per year. That is for an 18 year old private first class right out of basic with no more than a high school education.

Look, I appreciate all our military does. It is a hard life, but it is also one they chose and volunteered for, just like I did when it was my turn. For an 18 year old kid who is taking home the equivalent of $19.25/hr (I know, soldiers work a lot more than 40 hours a week), but I don’t think they are in desperate need of a raise. They can bear their share of the cuts or at least freezes.

I understand your concern CARPO, but its not like they are being paid a dollar a day anymore.

 

Across the board cuts are crazy for a number of reasons:

1. Some programs can be eliminated thus saving more money. If we only reduced some programs, we still have to fund them in the future.

2. Some programs naturally are expanding, especially entitlements. Even if you reduced Social Security, the baby boomers still are going to retire and there is going to be an increase in that program. Even if we brought all our troops home from the war, disability benefits for the troops will still continue to increase due to the war. You may disagree with these obligations, but you just cannot cut them off immediately.

3. Cutting the budget may not solve the problem. You may cut the budget but you may not stop waste.

Rather, strategic cuts are necessary. Yes, I think the vast majority of programs can be cut, some eliminated, and some we have to pave the way to fix this from becoming a future problem.

 

The fact that they volunteered is even more reason to give them a raise. They do not get paid near enough.

 

Based on the rest of your post I am not sure what you think "across the board cuts" means. But everything should be either cut or eliminated. Nothing should be immune from cuts.