The budget compromise thread

[Jorn]

Originally Posted by C280 Sport

Compromise. That is easy.

Dear Gov. stop spending so much money. You spend even if you dont have the money. Print more, barrow more. Here is an idea. Stop pi$$ing money away Do what everyone does. If they dont have the money they dont buy that good or service. Problem solved. If I have no money in my pocket and I walk in the store and want a $5 item then looks like I will go without. Gov should do the same.

The End.

Americans them self have spent for decades money they don't have. People get the government they deserve.

[C280 Sport]

Originally Posted by Jorn

Americans them self have spent for decades money they don't have. People get the government they deserve.

That is true without a doubt but I am not one of those Americans. I get annoyed when I see people buying coffee using a credit card. Or the guy I saw purchase a $900 TV and will make no payments for 2 years

[MTI]

As the GOP and the President have pointed out, cuts to the discretionary portion of the budget will not make significant debt reduction. It's entitlement programs and the military that consume the biggest chunks.

[Botnst]

Hold the discretionary budget at current level for the next 20 years. Discretionary spending problem solved.

Raise min age of SS to some proportion of life expectancy. As life expectancy grows, the age of eligibility should grow.

If you pay in, you can draw from it. Even Warren Buffett.His money went in, he should be able to withdraw if he so chooses. It's his choice whether to draw.

Sunset so-called entitlements with reauthorization at supermajority vote of both houses.

No more omnibus spending bills.

No more continuing resolutions. Negotiate in good faith or GTF out of here.

No anonymous holds and nominations. Too cowardly to stand behind your decision? GTF outta here.

All nominees for any appointed office get a vote in the session in which tehy were nominated. Too cowardly to vote? GTF outta here.

Get Congress off of any publicly subsidized medical or retirement system. Hold salary at 2x median income. Report ALL family income. Publish ALL 1040's. make them citizen-legislators. Too cowardly to stand behind your income/ GTF outta here.

[Hatterasguy]

Some good ideas, I would be willing to concede a huge defense cut if they pegged SS to the life expectancy and rolled back other entitlements.

I would also be willing to concede more if they started taxing everyone, even those making very little. Every citizen should have to pay something into the system.

[roflwaffle]

To some extent the deficit will end up reduced through coming out of the recession. My WAG is that there will be a revenue increase of ~$.3 to $.4 trillion from increased economic activity. Bringing defense and domestic discretionary spending back to 1990s levels would cut spending by another ~$.6 trillion. The remaining ~$.5 trillion would need to be bridged by tax increases/elimination of tax cuts and/or restructuring of our mandatory spending programs.

[Hatterasguy]

Its really not that hard to do if the politicians would get off their collective butts and do it.

To bad we the people can't withhold their paychecks until the problem is fixed.

[t walgamuth]

All budgets should be funding the various programs as a percentage of the tax income not a fixed amount, including the pay to all government employees. Tax revinue goes down? all funding goes down. No deficits allowed.

[aklim]

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

Its really not that hard to do if the politicians would get off their collective butts and do it.

To bad we the people can't withhold their paychecks until the problem is fixed.

Well, each party has it's own sacred cows. I can't give up my sacred cow but I don't mind slashing your programs.

Why bother? I'm sure they have ways to make money after their stint in congress

[POS]

Originally Posted by JollyRoger

The so-called "Death Tax" is demogogued to death by the GOP. In reality, the Inheritance Tax only affects those who hold great wealth. It is time to restore it.

The argument against the death tax is small business owners. We are already taxed on the business at every level - own a business sometime and you'll quickly learn that the government thinks our income streams are an excellent source of more revenue (income taxes, franchise taxes, property taxes) - and now after a lifetime of working to build a company, the kids get taxed yet again when I die when they inherit the business and the assets I've spent a lifetime building. It only affects those who hold "great wealth"? Are you kidding me? We bust our ass, take high risk, and invest all our lifetime savings to build something for our families, and when we die, the government takes half of it from my family. They think the money was just "found money" to my kids anyways, but I earned that money by living with high amounts of stress, dodging regular bullets, and a lot of time away from home to make sure my kids get a better-than-average head start on life.

Take the easy way, be an employee. No high risk, no high gain, no death tax. For hundreds of thousands of us, we strike out on our own, use our abilities to build something that supports our employees and their families too, reinvest all our savings to keep the business going, and then get whacked by the government for half our stuff on our deathbeds. The death tax is immoral.

[MTI]

Despite the "tale of woe" described above, there are business and estate planning professionals that can address nearly all of those complaints. Whether business owners avail themselves of those completely legal procedures is up to them.

[JollyRoger]

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

Some good ideas, I would be willing to concede a huge defense cut if they pegged SS to the life expectancy and rolled back other entitlements.

I would also be willing to concede more if they started taxing everyone, even those making very little. Every citizen should have to pay something into the system.

Another post I can agree with.

[Txjake]

Greatly reduce foreign aid. Use that money to bring down the debt. Example: we spent about what? 1 billion a year with Egypt. Of course there is a downside other than straight diplomatic; it will reduce our business access to some markets (in this way, it is a subsidy). But if we have to bribe countries to be nice to us, then what are we doing there anyway?

[JollyRoger]

Originally Posted by POS

The argument against the death tax is small business owners. We are already taxed on the business at every level - own a business sometime and you'll quickly learn that the government thinks our income streams are an excellent source of more revenue (income taxes, franchise taxes, property taxes) - and now after a lifetime of working to build a company, the kids get taxed yet again when I die when they inherit the business and the assets I've spent a lifetime building. It only affects those who hold "great wealth"? Are you kidding me? We bust our ass, take high risk, and invest all our lifetime savings to build something for our families, and when we die, the government takes half of it from my family. They think the money was just "found money" to my kids anyways, but I earned that money by living with high amounts of stress, dodging regular bullets, and a lot of time away from home to make sure my kids get a better-than-average head start on life.

Take the easy way, be an employee. No high risk, no high gain, no death tax. For hundreds of thousands of us, we strike out on our own, use our abilities to build something that supports our employees and their families too, reinvest all our savings to keep the business going, and then get whacked by the government for half our stuff on our deathbeds. The death tax is immoral.

I just don't see it that way. When you die, the money you leave to your children is unearned income to them. "because you died" is not a good enough reason for your children to dodge the income tax. As I stated earlier, we need to treat all income the same - while this is after-tax money to you, the dead guy, to the living, it is income. Capital gains, earned income, inheritance income above a certain point (which, contrary to your assertion is fabulous wealth to most people at the current 3.5 million of exempted estate) all should be taxed at around 12 percent IMO. I just don't see how, especially given the fact you would be dead at the time, this would be much skin off your behind.

I also think one way we might also compromise is for as all to admit that the entire income tax system in this country is a failure and is utterly unable to equitably divide the burden, that we scrapped the damned thing and institute a VAT tax, which at least assures that all will pay something.

[JollyRoger]

Originally Posted by Txjake

Greatly reduce foreign aid. Use that money to bring down the debt. Example: we spent about what? 1 billion a year with Egypt. Of course there is a downside other than straight diplomatic; it will reduce our business access to some markets (in this way, it is a subsidy). But if we have to bribe countries to be nice to us, then what are we doing there anyway?

"Foreign Aid" has been a demogogue target since I was a kid. IIRC, it is currently around 40 billion, chump change.