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Can you solve the budget crisis? I did.

Do it here.

I agree with some of the cuts, not all. You cant cut our US Millitary as was done here...sorry try elsewhere!

I didn't see the "make government salaries and benefits consistent with those of comparable private-sector jobs" option.

MasterOfNone wrote:I didn't see the "make government salaries and benefits consistent with those of comparable private-sector jobs" option.

Also, despite claims to the contrary, military spending can be cut. Not immediately, but we can bring troops home slowly and surely, we can cut back or eliminate recruiting, we can cut back re-enlistments, we can cut back promotions, etc. It may or may not be good policy to do these things, but they're possible.

Ameer wrote:

MasterOfNone wrote:I didn't see the "make government salaries and benefits consistent with those of comparable private-sector jobs" option.

Also, despite claims to the contrary, military spending can be cut. Not immediately, but we can bring troops home slowly and surely, we can cut back or eliminate recruiting, we can cut back re-enlistments, we can cut back promotions, etc. It may or may not be good policy to do these things, but they're possible.

Yessir! There are oodles of ways, IMO, to reduce our debt without compromising our military strength or the government's ability to govern. We are not the world police nor its benefactor. Additionally, there are way too many feeding way too high up on the hog around the American trough - all around the country and all around the world.

Sadly, due to Lyndon Johnson's raid on the Social Security funds over 30 years ago, there must be some future revisions to those two programs so future generations of AMERICAN citizens will have the benefits they have paid for.

And the list goes on....

I did it and had a ~$65B surplus in 2015 and a $100B surplus in 2030..
Without changing the age for SS and Medicare eligibility.

These things are kinda interesting, I guess, but they aren't really useful. It's not like I can fill out that form, then email it to my representative and say "do this". It's too general. Saying "we need to cut 10% of government jobs" is fine and all, but which 10% are we going to ditch?

Looking at the budget in this manner is wrong and perpetuates economic falsehoods. The things that the government expends resources on are seen, but what is not seen are all the things that happen with those resources when not expended by the government. Since resources left in the private sector do create wealth, and that wealth is still taxed by the government, a reduction in tax rates does not equate to a reduction in overall tax revenues as this calculator assumes.

Dave2 wrote:These things are kinda interesting, I guess, but they aren't really useful. It's not like I can fill out that form, then email it to my representative and say "do this". It's too general. Saying "we need to cut 10% of government jobs" is fine and all, but which 10% are we going to ditch?

bnc wrote:Looking at the budget in this manner is wrong and perpetuates economic falsehoods. The things that the government expends resources on are seen, but what is not seen are all the things that happen with those resources when not expended by the government. Since resources left in the private sector do create wealth, and that wealth is still taxed by the government, a reduction in tax rates does not equate to a reduction in overall tax revenues as this calculator assumes.

Yepper, it all depends on 'whose ox is being gored'? It's kinda' like what's going right now on in Wisconsin with that state's budget woes.

I tried it out. Of course I came out with a huge surplus of cash. It felt over simplified and like choosing options on a game. clearly this was created to amuse "common folk" who take the "if I was in charge" approach. Whats sad is that it seeks to address our budget short falls years from now and not even deal with the current bazillion dollar debt.

safety1 wrote:I agree with some of the cuts, not all. You cant cut our US Millitary as was done here...sorry try elsewhere!

Maybe not in the examples laid out in the puzzle BUT when you rank all countries in order of military spending we are of course sitting in the #1 spot. We spend more than the countries ranked #2 through 17 combined. Considering that we make up roughly 5% of the world population yet account for 43% of the worlds military expenditures tells me we are not spending wisely at all.

steve817 wrote:

safety1 wrote:I agree with some of the cuts, not all. You cant cut our US Millitary as was done here...sorry try elsewhere!

Maybe not in the examples laid out in the puzzle BUT when you rank all countries in order of military spending we are of course sitting in the #1 spot. We spend more than the countries ranked #2 through 17 combined. Considering that we make up roughly 5% of the world population yet account for 43% of the worlds military expenditures tells me we are not spending wisely at all.

I dont think we should bring all the troops home and cease all operations just lets not spend a billion dollars a day on the "defense budget"

I did it without increasing any taxes or cutting defense. I think there is a lot more that could be done to the budget than it suggested here though.

We should start by admitting SS is done, ending payouts, and ending the requirement to pay into it.