Deficit Panel's Recommended Cuts

[Minjin]

A commission to investigate budget cuts has made their recommendation. Are you for or against it? Or somewhere in the middle?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...87042.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection

I think it sounds good. Make it a bill and sign it already.

edit: I see that there actually was another thread about the same topic. The title wasn't very helpful.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2119155
Consider this thread valuable for the POLL.

edit2: Apparently, this is just a preliminary report put out by only a few of the commission's members. The final report isn't due out for a few weeks.

Also, I think the crying about this affecting seniors is extremely disingenuous. The proposals won't affect a single senior. They will all be long dead or already receiving their checks before the plan goes into affect. I don't think it will even affect anyone in the current working population. And anyone just now entering the workforce would have to be a fool to think that SS will be there to to support them completely.

 

[manimal]

Well its going to be very unpopular. Some good some bad but overall unfriendly to the middle class. The mortgage tax cut spank the middle class hardest....


What I can at least carve out as a good thing is the mere mention to cuts in the military..200B

 

[Minjin]

Well its going to be very unpopular. Some good some bad but overall unfriendly to the middle class. The mortgage tax cut spank the middle class hardest....


What I can at least carve out as a good thing is the mere mention to cuts in the military..200B

Where I'm from, only richy riches have mortgages of 500k or more. That is well above middle class for middle America.

 

[K1052]

IMO, do it.

Both sides hate it enough for it to be a good idea.

 

[matt0611]

Its a start. Do it, we need to get our fiscal situation under control ASAP.

 

[hal2kilo]

Doa

 

[alphatarget1]

The mortgage tax cut spank the middle class hardest....

It doesn't.... Not when your house's value is going to stagnate. Mortgage interest deduction creates an artificially increased demand for housing that benefits only bankers.

 

[hal2kilo]

Doing away with the 13% tax break that all people making over $106800 would fix the problem with social security forever.

 

[Craig234]

It's got excellent bits and disastrous bits. That's a dangerous combination.

One of the best bits is finally taxing capital gains at least as earned income.

 

[Double Trouble]

Some good, some bad. More emphasis is needed on cutting spending, and some parts of it (as I posted in the other thread) are dead on arrival anyway. I suspect this whole thing is actually dead on arrival anyway. At least I have to give them credit for looking at a lot of different things instead of the usual stuff.

 

[ebaycj]

Where I'm from, only richy riches have mortgages of 500k or more. That is well above middle class for middle America.

I'm just hoping it is set up as such: "EVERYONE gets to deduct the FIRST 500k of mortgage debt. After that, you're on your own".

 

[zsdersw]

The biggest pills for the Republicans to swallow is cuts in agriculture subsidies and defense spending. I, therefore, predict it not passing the House as presented.

 

[Anarchist420]

It doesn't go far enough at cutting spending. How about raising the retirement age to 75-76? They should cut benefits for people already receiving them and under 75 to 1/3-2/5 of what they are now, and cut people over 75 to 7/8.

a 100B defense budget cut is weak. They should reduce is to 1/6 of what it is currently.

They should also lay off at least 25% of the Federal workforce and cut existing salaries by 25%. These damn people are supposed to civil servants, not kings.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

How about raising the retirement age to 75-76? They should cut benefits for people already receiving them and under 75 to 1/3-2/5 of what they are now, and cut people over 75 to 7/8.

No problem, let's lay off all those who are 18 to 28 so we can have jobs for people who are 65 to 75.

 

[soccerballtux]

The biggest pills for the Republicans to swallow is cuts in agriculture subsidies and defense spending. I, therefore, predict it not passing the House as presented.

democrats are the ones supported by big agri.

 

[soccerballtux]

No problem, let's lay off all those who are 18 to 28 so we can have jobs for people who are 65 to 75.

people that old aren't in competition for the jobs people our age are getting.

 

[soulcougher73]

Well its going to be very unpopular. Some good some bad but overall unfriendly to the middle class. The mortgage tax cut spank the middle class hardest....


What I can at least carve out as a good thing is the mere mention to cuts in the military..200B

I dont know a single middle class person with a 500k+ mortgage. You have to remember when thinking that New York, San Fran, LA cannot influence your decisions. They are not the norms they are the fringe.

My mortgage is $185k and im middle class. 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2 car garage etc.

 

[zsdersw]

democrats are the ones supported by big agri.

Agriculture subsidies are a cornerstone of Republican politics; one of their sacred cows that dare not be cut.

 

[yllus]

Sounds like you've got yourself a winner. It's too bad this is non-binding.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

This report is hte blind leading the blind. It does not matter who is leading. We are talking about politicians and economists. Economists are good for one thing. Telling you what happened in the past. And we all know what politicans are good for.

 

[PokerGuy]

Agri subsidies are important from a strategic perspective more than an economic or political one. It's important that we're not dependent on China or some other crappy country for our food supply, so we need to keep that industry here, even if that means we need to subsidize it heavily.

My fear is that the good parts of these recommendations will get gutted, and tax increases and removal of tax breaks will get put in a bill and passed. We'd all get screwed yet again.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Well its going to be very unpopular. Some good some bad but overall unfriendly to the middle class. The mortgage tax cut spank the middle class hardest....


What I can at least carve out as a good thing is the mere mention to cuts in the military..200B

Can't wait to se the unintended consequences. Alot of people will loose their job which means they are no longer participating in the economy. Whcih means more jobs will be lost due to it. Can't wait to see what other unintended consequences there are.

 

[Phokus]

democrats are the ones supported by big agri.

Agriculture subsidies are popular with Republicans because Red States benefit greatly from it.

See: Rand Paul's support for it.

 

[Scotteq]

I'm just hoping it is set up as such: "EVERYONE gets to deduct the FIRST 500k of mortgage debt. After that, you're on your own".

Just FYI: The Mortgage deductions under consideration/discussion allow for homeowners to deduct the *interest* they paid on their mortgage from their overall earnings. Not the Principal.


Regarding the 'Plan' (Suggestion, really. Nothing has actually been cut) - (1) It appears the panel went after all of the biggest cow, and (2) according to the article, it wouldn't balance the budget until 2037 anyhow.


As a matter of practical reality: I don't see this getting passed (or even to the respective Houses) as is.

 

[Thump553]

FYI-the panel has NOT made it's reccommendations. What was revealed yesterday was some preliminary conclusions that are (apparently) only supported in full by two of the members of the panel. In Washingtonian speak, this was a trial balloon.

The full panel's report is due out December 1st.

In my view the panel will have done its job if it sparks a bona fide discussion of long term solutions instead of the usual partisan platforms, which we are all totally familiar with-and both of with are clearly failures as any sort of solution.