cut the spending -- what do YOU cut?

[Anarchist420]

I'd also have the Fed raise interest rates so there wouldn't be any inflation measured the old CPI method.

 

[Genx87]

I'd scale back oversea's operations of our military. We have bases all over the world. Let Europe defend itself. Then I would lop off a base 10% to everything else and put a spending freeze on the rest until we grow our way out of the problem.

 

[Vette73]

1. Where are they going to go and get the same high pay, benefits and vacation time and have a job that will never go away? And notice that I said freeze pay, not cut it and I stated that it would be temporary until the economy recovers. We are in a huge recession with 10% unemployment. In the last few years 5% of Americans have lost their jobs but the government workers keep getting pay raises and benefit hikes as if nothing has changed, that should be stopped.

2. See my plan was such a good idea that they already did it

3. My plan isn't a complete flat tax. It is a graduated flat tax. Your first 10k of income is taxed at 5% the next 10k at 10% the next 10k at 15% etc etc. (rough figures)

A single person making 20k a year would have an effective rate of about 3%
A single person making 100k a year would have an effective rate of about 25%

So we would still have a progressive system. It would just be a whole lot easier to manage and it would take a TON of power away from Washington as they would no longer be able to play with the tax system in order to benefit one group or another.

I do HR for the FED and we have a hard time matching the pay for the private sector. I have had 3 people turn down jobs that pay between 89k to 105k a year this month alone.

Most lower jobs have been "outsourced" in the Fed. In our office people need skill sets that are not easy to come by. Certain weapons, counter intelligence, etc...

And a pay freeze is a pay cut. When company Outside Inc. says they will pay 109k per year and I say we can do 105k per year and oh we can’t give you any more money as we are frozen. Yet Outside Inc. says after XYZ months you can get a raise and bonus. We lose another person.

Right now we, Fed, have a hard time keeping good experienced HR people. Many burn out and many of the good ones are either retiring or going private sector. Hell I am applying for non-HR jobs now as after 3years I am burned out in it. I would have started looking sooner but I had a 3 year agreement and I wanted to get my Career status.

 

[piasabird]

If you can find a $100k+ job my suggestion is you take that job outside of the government. My korean sister-in-law works for a company that does Military Contracts for networking. She likes going overseas TDY to work at military bases.