How would you deal with the debt?

[cybrsage]

First, we need to end the military conflicts we are fighting. When that is done we can reduce the military budget drastically - but smartly. We need to look at the well documented pork lists and slash them.

We also need a Constitutional Amendment which says Congress cannot spend more than is brought in except in a national emergency...and that the extra spending must be paid off in no more greater than 5 years.

 

[nehalem256]

I would raise taxes to 50% income and 50% property for 1 year, then forgive all personal debt in the US up to that point. I shall call it the "Grand Blitz and Reset".

So you would screw over all the responsible people and reward all of the irresponsible people 🙄

 

[SagaLore]

So you would screw over all the responsible people and reward all of the irresponsible people 🙄

If the debt doesn't get fixed, then the responsible people are the ones mostly screwed.

 

[amdhunter]

Tax the poor even more, and cut welfare and education for middle and lower income people, or those that don't put any money into the system.

Also, leave the troops wherever they are in the world and forget about them. No more supplies, ammo or anything. Let other countries pay them if they want them there so much.

 

[Atreus21]

Well before you do that, you probably need to beef up bankruptcy courts to handle the influx. The only way out of this to try and divert disaster is to deleverage across the board. Once the deflation hits the bankruptcies need to be handled quickly and efficiently because it will be impossible for private entities to service their debt.

Okay. Let's do it.

 

[xBiffx]

Repeal the 16th amendment. If we are going to put up with astronomical spending from the government, we might as well do it while sitting on piles of our own cash.

I'd like to think a deficit of say $4T a year would send a more effective message.

 

[JEDIYoda]

China will colonize America...

OMG.........just please stop.......your way out of bounds...please see a doctor immediately...one that can prescribe meds...

 

[Engineer]

Yeah, that won't kill the economy.

My question is not how to deal with the debt but the underlying problem: Why is it so goddamned hard to run a surplus, and therefore reduce the debt?

It already has by killing the true middle class.

 

[QuantumPion]

Across the board cuts of 3% to all budgets per year until budget is balanced. Once balanced, max government growth = GDP growth -0.5%. At 2% GDP growth per year, budget will be balanced by 2020 with a government/GDP ratio of 18%. By 2040, this is reduced to 16% and the debt is finally starting to get paid off at ~$400 b per year.

 

[ericlp]

we spend about 7% to pay the interest on our debt and over 60% goes to military SSI, midicare, Medicare. So I would be cutting defense and making church's pay taxes not just property but for every donation... no more free rides...



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[QuantumPion]

we spend about 7% to pay the interest on our debt and over 60% goes to military SSI, midicare, Medicare. So I would be cutting defense and making church's pay taxes not just property but for every donation... no more free rides...



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Make churchs pay taxes on donations? Really? You want to essentially tax the poor and destitute who depend on charitable donations? Talk about a regressive tax! What's your next bright idea, charge property taxes to homeless people living in a box under the bridge?

 

[Anarchist420]

Taxes should not go up to pay off the debt. The national debt is privately held and probably shouldn't be paid back. The govt can sell its land and weapons to the highest bidder for revenue and that would cancel the depression from the default. The problem is that there would have to be popular support for it to continue.

It would be best to just be non-voters in masse to dissolve the union. Then each State (plus/including D.C.) can be free and independent like the Declaration of Independence intended and keep each formerly national land and weapon in itself. Romney's pro-union ass would never consent to that though.

 

[child of wonder]

Make churchs pay taxes on donations? Really? You want to essentially tax the poor and destitute who depend on charitable donations? Talk about a regressive tax! What's your next bright idea, charge property taxes to homeless people living in a box under the bridge?

Removing tax exempt status from churches wouldn't be about taxing the poor, it would be done because churches are a business just like any other. If there is a tax on regular businesses, churches should be included in that tax.

If, as others have said, we instead remove taxes completely from businesses then churches should remain untaxed.

 

[bfdd]

2020 to have a balanced budget? Why wait? Why not just balance it for next year? Oh because it might "hurt" waaah. So stupid, it'll never get done if we don't do it today. If you aren't willing to do it today, you aren't willing to do it ever.

 

[QuantumPion]

Removing tax exempt status from churches wouldn't be about taxing the poor, it would be done because churches are a business just like any other.

OK. You realize what you think it would be about and what would actually happen in reality are completely at odds with each other, right? You are taxing dollars that were going to charity and instead giving them to the government. Therefore, charitable organizations have less money to give to the needy.

 

[child of wonder]

OK. You realize what you think it would be about and what would actually happen in reality are completely at odds with each other, right? You are taxing dollars that were going to charity and instead giving them to the government. Therefore, charitable organizations have less money to give to the needy.

Yes. That's why I'd support a simplified tax code that boasts no corporate tax rate at all. Churches, being businesses, would not be affected since they pay no taxes.

It's the principle of the thing, however. The government should not be giving religions an elevated status and exempting them from paying taxes. They should be treated like any other business.

 

[QuantumPion]

2020 to have a balanced budget? Why wait? Why not just balance it for next year? Oh because it might "hurt" waaah. So stupid, it'll never get done if we don't do it today. If you aren't willing to do it today, you aren't willing to do it ever.

It would be nice to balance the budget immediately but it would require all the Democrats and big-government republicans lose their seats. Not gonna happen, not while Democrats continue to buy votes with welfare handouts, cronyism, and jerrymandering.

 

[QuantumPion]

Yes. That's why I'd support a simplified tax code that boasts no corporate tax rate at all. Churches, being businesses, would not be affected since they pay no taxes.

It's the principle of the thing, however. The government should not be giving religions an elevated status and exempting them from paying taxes. They should be treated like any other business.

OK I agree in principle but that would require the Fair tax or similar radical tax change.

 

[Auric]

Tax the poor even more, and cut welfare and education for middle and lower income people, or those that don't put any money into the system.

Also, leave the troops wherever they are in the world and forget about them. No more supplies, ammo or anything. Let other countries pay them if they want them there so much.

Well they cannnot come home. Too much liability. Real unemployment (as opposed to those reported actively seeking) is already closer to 20% than 10%. Ergo, more than 31 millions. A mere twenty percent reduction in personnel would add 300 thousands to start and exponentially more civilian contractors. How did Rome deal with armies they could no longer afford? Presumably, many soldiers did quicken their integration with local populations and/or become mercenaries.

 

[cybrsage]

we spend about 7% to pay the interest on our debt and over 60% goes to military SSI, midicare, Medicare. So I would be cutting defense and making church's pay taxes not just property but for every donation... no more free rides...



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You know that would mean churches can become politically active, right? Currently, only groups like unions can be both politically active and tax exempt...but if you remove the tax exemption from a church it no longer has any reason to stay out of politics.

I doubt that is the result you want.

 

[halik]

Ron Paul pixie dust

 

[momeNt]

Ron Paul pixie dust

It may work better than Friedman's ashes.

 

[jagec]

Keep income tax rates where they are, but raise the brackets somewhat so that the top tax rate actually hits the top 5% or so.

Use Mitt Romney's idea to cap itemized deductions at $17k.

Lower payroll taxes to 5% but remove the cap. In fact, remove all such big-ticket tax caps.

Lower the corporate tax rate to 20%. I'm tempted to say "get rid of deductions entirely" but that would be too extreme. Perhaps there should be some way of measuring the impact of deduction on jobs created/preserved. I'd have to do some research on this one. But right now the corporate tax code heavily benefits multinational giants and hurts small businesses.

Corporate taxes on income earned overseas should be 0%, like in all other industrialized nations. No point encouraging people to headquarter their companies in Bermuda.

Raise the retirement age for SS/Medicare to (average life expectancy - 10), recalculated every 3 years or so, with people within 5 years of retirement "locked in" and a no greater than 1-year change each recalculation.

Means-test SS. Details may vary, not sure on this one.

Single payer health care. Our system is ridiculously overpriced and not very good.

Shrink defense budget by 10-20% over several years, and then peg it to inflation. There is no real difference between being able to beat the next 6 countries put together, or the next 8. Good foreign policy will ensure that neither scenario is even close to realistic.

Repeal Dodd-Frank, lock a bipartisan commission of wonder kids from various sides of economics (academia, government, industry) in a room with NO access to lobbyists and 10 sheets of blank paper. Once they come up with a simpler set of rules to govern the financial sector, give the regulators enough teeth to enforce them.

Pass a 0.0001% tax on financial transactions to provide a damper on high-speed trading and its destabilizing effects on the market.

Lower the barriers to entry of highly-educated, highly-trained, and/or highly-skilled immigrants, and provide a fast-track to citizenship. America's ability to attract talent has been its most powerful asset for decades and is beginning to fade thanks to isolationism and xenophobia.

Similarly, begin a large guest-worker program for unskilled labor. This would be designed to break the cycle of more illegal immigration leading to fewer visas granted leading to even more illegal immigration. Candidates would be issued green cards, but would need to stay out of legal trouble, pay taxes, have insurance if they drive, and not be long-term unemployed. Continue to prioritize deportation of criminals and other non-contributors.

 

[Agent11]

Raise taxes on everyone proportionate to the deficit in % of GDP. When the deficit is 2% GDP the tax rate increases 10%. When the Surplus is greater than 10% GDP the tax rate is lowered 10% with a linear curve. Exempt people making less than 100k a year.

Raise taxes on dividends directly proportionate to the deficit. When there is a deficit greater than 2% gdp the rate goes to 90%. When there is a surplus greater than 10% gdp it would go to 20% with a linear curve. Exempt Retirement accounts.

Give a 10% tax credit to all businesses manufacturing in the continental US. *

Give an additional 10% tax credit to all businesses involved in green energy, aerospace, transportation, medical machinery and integrated circuit manufacturing.

End farm subsidies.

Give farms a 10% tax credit

Exempt farms from estate tax when transferred to a blood relative upon death.

Legalize marijuana, tax it and export it. I know for a fact the best weed in the world is grown in California.

End oil subsidies, require all fuel oil products pumped from federal land to be used for domestic use only.

Close all the loop holes.

End all federal monetary foreign aid.

Allow medicare to collectively bargaining for drugs.

Cut the salary of senators and congressmen in half, they have performed like shit for quite a while now, and their approval rating reflects it. So should their pay.

Federally fund the fastest rail system in the world to link every major city on the east and west coasts, and eventually coast to coast, but only building routes that are projected to be guaranteed self sustaining and repaying the federal government once operational using fares

 

[Screech]

Drastically reduce unnecessary agencies (for example, states can regulate their own alcohol, tobacco, and firearms (ATF), and set their own drug policy (DEA).....don't need a federal agency to do that. Only need the fed to enforce agreements between states if necessary).

Cut down on prison size and # of inmates. Repeal/rework drug laws so as not to be subsidies to prison contractors.

Drastically reduce military size while maintaining technological edge and importantly, ability for covert operations. We've been killing terrorists for years using this line of logic (JSOC). We can still blow up the rest of the world with nukes no problem.

Raise the social security benefits age a year every year for five years to 70, further if needed. Back when the retirement age was set almost nobody lived to see it.....things have changed. Cap size of government pensions at 28,000 max and peg to inflation.

Bush tax cuts expire.

This still leaves medicare/medicaid to deal with. Realistically single payer is probably the way to go.....although if I get to a point where I need machines to eat, drink, and breathe for me I'd rather cut the chord, but thats just my choice.