So how would YOU reduce the deficit?

[FORD]

Real solutions only, please. No Randtard masturbatory fantasies........

[Unchainme]

End all imperialist wars and occupations
Cut "defense" budget back to pre-Chimp level
End oil subsidies
End corn subsidies (HOORAY! Mountain Dew Throwback becomes permanent!)
End tobacco subsidies
End congressional pensions (they're all millionaires anyway)

Then I'd institute a fair or flat tax of some sort. And try to get us a great ass combination of the private health-care field and public option like Canada has.

[knuckleboner]

ha. congressional pensions are a pittance. and they pay into it anyways.


the fact is that the debt is addressed by:

1) recognizing that the lowest taxes since ike coupled with the biggest deficits don't work.
2) recognizing that the U.S. cannot continue to spend multiples more on defense than any other nation.
3) recognizing that entitlement programs cannot continue at their current rate of growth
4) recognizing that non-defense discretionary spending has to be kept in check.

democrats are not nearly serious enough on spending cuts.
republicans are downright living in denial when it comes to revenues.

actually addressing the debt will require actual adults, and technically, neither side is there yet. though, the democrats are trying to get out of middle school, while the republicans are still upset that their diapers haven't been changed.

[Hardrock69]

1. Legalize pot. Use the legalization to create an entirely new industry in the United States that would create millions of jobs and create massive tax revenue: The Use Of Industrial Hemp.

1 acre of hemp can create as much paper as 10 acres of trees, and you can harvest the hemp twice a year, instead of once every 30. The paper is more durable than paper made from wood, and, would be many times cheaper to manufacture. And the only need for harvesting trees would be for construction purposes. We don't EVEN use nearly as much wood as we used to, as for commercial uses, aluminum and steel studs are used for walls, etc. So we could save our forests more than we are doing at present as well.

Hemp fiber makes cloth that is much more durable than cotton.

Then there are the many other industrial uses for it. No need to go into detail here, just Google it. The Emperor Wears No Clothes is a good book to find to read about the hundreds of uses hemp has.

Farmers could begin growing hemp, which would add thousands of jobs to the agricultural sector, as well as the manufacturing sector, and the retail sector. Taxes would be paid on the income of all the individuals working in this sector, not to mention all the taxes necessary for new businesses whose focus is marketing, manufacturing, etc. stuff that is made from hemp.

Naturally, there would be tax revenue from hemp sold in liquor stores, and that would be a huge industry, which would create much tax revenue. Notice what is going on in California....businesses involved now in selling medical marijuana are just like any other business. They have to rent/lease/buy a retail establishment, hire employees, pay taxes on the revenue generated by the business, unemployment taxes, benefits, etc. Currently Cali is getting many hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars in tax revenue, and that is with the Fed fucking idiots still refusing to legalize it on a national scale.

2. Maintain our military presence around the globe, but force countries who we have helped through military intervention to pay us back.

3. Tax the living shit out of the oil companies, while putting a cap on what they can charge for gas...say 2 dollars a gallon. OR, have the Federal Government just buy a fucking oil company, charge 2 dollars a gallon, and the other oil companies would have to follow suit or die. Fuck those motherfuckers, they have had their trillions in profits for the past 100 years anyway.

4. Tax businesses owned by churches.

5. Close all loopholes in the corporate tax structure. Charge a flat tax of 10 percent for everyone. Corporations, individuals, businesses owned by the churches, etc. Nobody would have room to fucking bitch, as they could keep the other 90 %. Though the tax would be only 10%, and it currently is more than that for some federal income taxes, corporate taxes, etc., the drop in tax revenue by dropping all tax classifications to 10% would be offset drastically by forcing all corporations and individuals who pay little or no taxes to pay up. I would love to pay 10% in income tax. I currently pay more than that.

6. Establish a government-owned national lottery. Powerball and Mega-millions and other companies are making a shitload of money....why not create a lottery that would put the profits to taking down the national debt? The point is just to have something that people will WANT to be a part of, and will willingly shell out a dollar a week or something like that to help out. Of course with the odds of winning something as an attraction. The Government could also offer as part of the grand prize an exemption from paying taxes for 3 years or something like that.


Naturally the above stuff is just off the top of my head, but, to use a phrase Obama has used many times, the current system is not working, and we need to change the way we do business so we can return to profitability.

[Nitro Express]

Finance works as long as the finance is based on reality. When finance no longer is based on reality it fails to work. Much of this debt is not with reality. The first thing we need to is establish what reality is and once we have that base to compare to, we determine what the fantasy is and eradicate it. The first step is to audit the Federal Reserve. This surely would expose it for the ponzi scheme it is and ruin it's reputation. Then we issue US treasury notes to compete with the federal reserve notes on the open market. People will go to the US treasury note especially if it's backed by some gold and silver. Then we go after the so called too big to fails and cut them off and let them fail. We hunt down and eliminate all sources of banking fraud. Much of this debt is owed to organization that have been stealing.

[Hardrock69]

The Federal Gummint does not know (or care) what reality is. With the current policies (and political system) in place, the American Empire is going to fall in the near future. China is already catching up to us in a big way, and as the trade with China is pretty much one way (they are a service provider we currently cannot function as a nation without) we are already an also-ran in world affairs.

[binnie]

A growing economy is the quickest way to reduce the deficit. Encouraging trade is critical.

Taxation, subsidies and the like really just tinker with the problem.

[BigBadBrian]

A growing economy is the quickest way to reduce the deficit. Encouraging trade is critical.

Taxation, subsidies and the like really just tinker with the problem.

http://thepanelists.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/winner.jpg

Ding Ding Ding Ding...we have a winner, people!

[FORD]

Depends on what sort of "trade" you're encouraging. The things Binnie is talking about have worked well for India and China in recent years. Not so much for us. :(

[binnie]

Or the UK, to be fair.

For whatever reason, economies with huge trade markets in the 20th century are struggling in the 21st.

There's no point trying to compete with China and India by making clothes, plastics or daily items because their labour is so cheap. But the world needs lots of things.

[hideyoursheep]

Legalize and tax the ganja...

Bring our boys home.

The decades-long post-occupation of every country we defeat in war has to cease.

That alone will knock off 22% of spending.

[FORD]

Yeah, why do we still have occupying forces in Germany and Japan anyway? I can understand someone making a case for Korea, though I wouldn't necessarily agree with it, at least there is still a "hostile" there.

[hideyoursheep]

Yeah, why do we still have occupying forces in Germany and Japan anyway?

Same reason we're involved with Lybia and don't give a rat's ass about Syria....so we can get to the oil quicker. (Syria has no oil)

[Dr. Love]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UOaaXmTyfbw/TV_w9TclWeI/AAAAAAAAAA0/Jx0VG96OdEE/s1600/discretionary_spending_fy2011.jpg

Reduce spending on health! it's going to bankrupt us!!

[FORD]

Great pie chart. Now I know who you really are (and why you're in Texas).....

http://i.fanpix.net/images/orig/y/o/yohorrkfsokffkf.jpg

[Warham]

That total pie chart is only about 35% of the federal budget.

[Nickdfresh]

That total pie chart is only about 35% of the federal budget.

You know this how?

[Warham]

It's called google and it's your friend.

[Warham]

If you take a look at this interactive pie chart from the left-leaning Center for American Progress, you will see that discretionary spending accounts for slightly more than one-third of the federal budget, while "mandatory" spending accounts for nearly 60 percent.

I even copied it from Slate, which is a liberal rag, just so I wouldn't get accused of being partisan.
http://www.slate.com/id/2285076/

[Nickdfresh]

I even copied it from Slate, which is a liberal rag, just so I wouldn't get accused of being partisan.
http://www.slate.com/id/2285076/

Okay, so what's the pie chart when "mandatory spending" is included? BTW, why not just post the article? Oh wait! Nevermind...