Balancing the Budget

[Guest shiloh357]

So what should congress do to balance the budget? Obviously we need to cut spending and while at the same time raise revenue, but what does that look like? Can we tax or way to prosperity?

If you could provide some source links with your responses it would be much appreciated. I think sometimes, regular people can actually arrive at better solutions than the ruling elite of either party.

[OneLight]

I have often wondered how much we would save if we ceased paying retirement pays for our elected officers. They have turned our elected offices into a business, so it seems.

I tried to follow this, but had a hard time with it ... good luck.

http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30631.pdf

I have no link for this idea, but it would be nice to give the poor back to the churches to do what they are called out to do. Working with those in need is very rewarding and the government took this away from us as a whole.

[udx]

I have often wondered how much we would save if we ceased paying retirement pays for our elected officers. They have turned our elected offices into a business, so it seems.

I tried to follow this, but had a hard time with it ... good luck.

http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30631.pdf

Good call, I believe we also pay their insurance for the rest of their life.

The Congress and Senate get free mail service, all those campaign mailing you get from those already in office are paid for by taxes, not their campaign funds.

We could also, stop paying for research on things like the mating habits of flies.

Earmarks are out of control. Here are some examples, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

1. Museum Where Neon Signs Go to Die – $1.8 Million

2. “Free” Grateful Dead Archive – $615,000

3. Poems in Zoos – $997,766

4. “Critter Crossing” – $150,000

5. Internet Dating Study – $239,100

6. Census Super Bowl Commercial Too Ironic to be Understood – $2.5 Million

7. Studying Male Prostitutes in Vietnam – $442,340

8. Zoo Receives Federal Funding to Develop Online Video Game, “Wolfquest‟ – $609,160

9. Teaching South African Men How to Wash Their Genitalia – $823,200

10. Gold-Plated Potties in the Woods – $1.49 Million

11. A Recession-Inspired Video Game – $137,530

12. NSF Studies Political Talk Shows on Fox News and MSNBC – $66,638

13. Alcohol, College Students, Foreign Countries, and Your Money – $41,380

14. Pedestrian Bridge Built Steps from Another Pedestrian Bridge – $260,000

15. Banjo Player Honored in Museum – $1.5 Million

16. Studying Wild Blue Monkey‟s Business – $168,766

17. NIH Promotes Awareness for Non-Existent Vaccine – $55,000

18. Renovating Pizzeria with New Vertical Garden Entry Way – $60,000

19. Storm Surge Signs Frighten Local Residents – $42,544

20. City Gets Funding for “Slightly Different” Bike Signage – $900,000

http://www.economiccollapse.net/the-20-most-ridiculous-examples-of-federal-spending-in-2010#.T1mBMvEgef4

Cutting these earmarks won't change anything fundamentally. Even if all these earmarks are removed it won't change the federal budget by more than 1%.

Big budget programs needs to be cut. Media loves distract people's attention to these small items but don't address the elephant in the room.

Biggest categories that must be cut back are: Social security, Medicare, Defense and other discretionary spending.

[OneLight]

If earmarks were cut completely from any bill, it would save a lot over the years. I would also have the House and Senate vote on each bill independently instead of bundling the good with the bad. that would also decrease spending.

[udx]

If earmarks were cut completely from any bill, it would save a lot over the years. I would also have the House and Senate vote on each bill independently instead of bundling the good with the bad. that would also decrease spending.

Not enough to bring a budget surplus.

[udx]

I have often wondered how much we would save if we ceased paying retirement pays for our elected officers. They have turned our elected offices into a business, so it seems.

I tried to follow this, but had a hard time with it ... good luck.

http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30631.pdf

Good call, I believe we also pay their insurance for the rest of their life.

The Congress and Senate get free mail service, all those campaign mailing you get from those already in office are paid for by taxes, not their campaign funds.

We could also, stop paying for research on things like the mating habits of flies.

Earmarks are out of control. Here are some examples, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

1. Museum Where Neon Signs Go to Die – $1.8 Million

2. “Free” Grateful Dead Archive – $615,000

3. Poems in Zoos – $997,766

4. “Critter Crossing” – $150,000

5. Internet Dating Study – $239,100

6. Census Super Bowl Commercial Too Ironic to be Understood – $2.5 Million

7. Studying Male Prostitutes in Vietnam – $442,340

8. Zoo Receives Federal Funding to Develop Online Video Game, “Wolfquest‟ – $609,160

9. Teaching South African Men How to Wash Their Genitalia – $823,200

10. Gold-Plated Potties in the Woods – $1.49 Million

11. A Recession-Inspired Video Game – $137,530

12. NSF Studies Political Talk Shows on Fox News and MSNBC – $66,638

13. Alcohol, College Students, Foreign Countries, and Your Money – $41,380

14. Pedestrian Bridge Built Steps from Another Pedestrian Bridge – $260,000

15. Banjo Player Honored in Museum – $1.5 Million

16. Studying Wild Blue Monkey‟s Business – $168,766

17. NIH Promotes Awareness for Non-Existent Vaccine – $55,000

18. Renovating Pizzeria with New Vertical Garden Entry Way – $60,000

19. Storm Surge Signs Frighten Local Residents – $42,544

20. City Gets Funding for “Slightly Different” Bike Signage – $900,000

http://www.economiccollapse.net/the-20-most-ridiculous-examples-of-federal-spending-in-2010#.T1mBMvEgef4

Cutting these earmarks won't change anything fundamentally. Even if all these earmarks are removed it won't change the federal budget by more than 1%.

Big budget programs needs to be cut.

Biggest categories that must be cut back are: Social security, Medicare, Defense and other discretionary spending.

It would be a start though. Often times a little here and a little there can add up.

Last year as I was doing my spring cleaning I found some loose change in an old jacket. As I was cleaning I was finding various amounts of change under couch cushions, in drawers, my purses etc. So I made a concerted effort to go through anything that might contain loose change. In addition to this, over the next few months any time I had any change I would throw it into a jar. I never deposited a lot of change at one time..a few pennies here a quarter there.

September of last year arrives. My husband is ready for a break and says he would like to get away during my son's spring break. But, he is not sure if we could afford to get away. I pulled out my change, rolled it and deposited it into the bank. With that change we took a fall break cruise which we found on sale.

Yes. It is a start. But I find the federal budget is like a leaking water bucket, you have to plug the biggest holes first in order to make a difference. Fixing the biggest problem should be top priority instead of small ticket items. Everyone have limited time and energy, and should utilize it in the most efficient manner.

For example.. if you focus on saving change, but don't pay off your credit card bill/debt, it is not really going to make a difference in your family budget as the interest you pay on credit card bill is way greater. There is little sense arguing about little ticket items when the people could focus on bigger problem that would actually reverse the deficit trend.

In the same way currently 6% tax revenue is use to pay the debt, it would quickly rise when USD inflates (which it will).

[OneLight]

If earmarks were cut completely from any bill, it would save a lot over the years. I would also have the House and Senate vote on each bill independently instead of bundling the good with the bad. that would also decrease spending.

Not enough to bring a budget surplus.

Not by itself, but every little bit helps.

[OneLight]

There is also the flat tax.

[udx]

I have often wondered how much we would save if we ceased paying retirement pays for our elected officers. They have turned our elected offices into a business, so it seems.

I tried to follow this, but had a hard time with it ... good luck.

http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30631.pdf

Good call, I believe we also pay their insurance for the rest of their life.

The Congress and Senate get free mail service, all those campaign mailing you get from those already in office are paid for by taxes, not their campaign funds.

We could also, stop paying for research on things like the mating habits of flies.

Earmarks are out of control. Here are some examples, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

1. Museum Where Neon Signs Go to Die – $1.8 Million

2. “Free” Grateful Dead Archive – $615,000

3. Poems in Zoos – $997,766

4. “Critter Crossing” – $150,000

5. Internet Dating Study – $239,100

6. Census Super Bowl Commercial Too Ironic to be Understood – $2.5 Million

7. Studying Male Prostitutes in Vietnam – $442,340

8. Zoo Receives Federal Funding to Develop Online Video Game, “Wolfquest‟ – $609,160

9. Teaching South African Men How to Wash Their Genitalia – $823,200

10. Gold-Plated Potties in the Woods – $1.49 Million

11. A Recession-Inspired Video Game – $137,530

12. NSF Studies Political Talk Shows on Fox News and MSNBC – $66,638

13. Alcohol, College Students, Foreign Countries, and Your Money – $41,380

14. Pedestrian Bridge Built Steps from Another Pedestrian Bridge – $260,000

15. Banjo Player Honored in Museum – $1.5 Million

16. Studying Wild Blue Monkey‟s Business – $168,766

17. NIH Promotes Awareness for Non-Existent Vaccine – $55,000

18. Renovating Pizzeria with New Vertical Garden Entry Way – $60,000

19. Storm Surge Signs Frighten Local Residents – $42,544

20. City Gets Funding for “Slightly Different” Bike Signage – $900,000

http://www.economiccollapse.net/the-20-most-ridiculous-examples-of-federal-spending-in-2010#.T1mBMvEgef4

Cutting these earmarks won't change anything fundamentally. Even if all these earmarks are removed it won't change the federal budget by more than 1%.

Big budget programs needs to be cut.

Biggest categories that must be cut back are: Social security, Medicare, Defense and other discretionary spending.

It would be a start though. Often times a little here and a little there can add up.

Last year as I was doing my spring cleaning I found some loose change in an old jacket. As I was cleaning I was finding various amounts of change under couch cushions, in drawers, my purses etc. So I made a concerted effort to go through anything that might contain loose change. In addition to this, over the next few months any time I had any change I would throw it into a jar. I never deposited a lot of change at one time..a few pennies here a quarter there.

September of last year arrives. My husband is ready for a break and says he would like to get away during my son's spring break. But, he is not sure if we could afford to get away. I pulled out my change, rolled it and deposited it into the bank. With that change we took a fall break cruise which we found on sale.

Yes. It is a start. But I find the federal budget is like a leaking water bucket, you have to plug the biggest holes first in order to make a difference. Fixing the biggest problem should be top priority instead of small ticket items. Everyone have limited time and energy, and should utilize it in the most efficient manner.

For example.. if you focus on saving change, but don't pay off your credit card bill/debt, it is not really going to make a difference in your family budget as the interest you pay on credit card bill is way greater. There is little sense arguing about little ticket items when the people could focus on bigger problem that would actually reverse the deficit trend.

In the same way currently 6% tax revenue is use to pay the debt, it would quickly rise when USD inflats (which it will).

Fair enough. But, if my household were in debt I would cut both large and small expenses. I would cut out large expenses such as vacation homes and small ones such as daily sodas.

You gave some examples of things you would cut, Social security, Medicare, Defense and other discretionary spending. I agree there is a lot of waste and fraud in all of these and a lot of money could be saved. Do you have any specific ideas for cuts in these programs?

Yeah.. You could cut both large and small expenses provided that you have time. But the government don't work that way. I don't think they take anything seriously until they have to, like the debt ceiling. If you can only have time to either address earmarks or big programs, i would focus on those big item programs. People should force the government to address the big issues instead of wasting time making a fuss about earmarks.

For starters, I think US should stop fighting trillion dollar wars. Social security should be phased out, people need to learn how to rely on themselves instead of the government. People did just fine without the monster social security program back in the day.

Someone has got to fix the federal reserve problem. Federal reserve basically benefit from government debt, it is in the country's interest to abolish that organization.

[udx]

So what should congress do to balance the budget? Obviously we need to cut spending and while at the same time raise revenue, but what does that look like? Can we tax or way to prosperity?

If you could provide some source links with your responses it would be much appreciated. I think sometimes, regular people can actually arrive at better solutions than the ruling elite of either party.

In the Cayman Islands, none of the citizens pay any taxes. Tax revenue comes from tourism and tarriffs. The standard of living in the Caymans is very high.

To raise money we could place tarriffs on goods coming in from overseas..no matter what the nationality of the exporter is. This tax should be made high enough that it would be cheaper for companies to locate and hire here than to ship it here. This would increase our own tax base by putting our people back to work. Along with cutting wasteful spending this would work to balance the budget. An added bonus would be that the bigger the tax base, the less each individual taxpayer would need to be accountable for.

tarriffs is a bad idea that prevents competition and ultimately hurt the people in the end. Having tariffs is against the WTO free trade regulation in which US is a member. If you raise tariffs on foreign items, they would do the same to you in retaliation, ultimately the people would just pay more taxes and standard of living be lower because you have to pay more for everything now. It would just hurt trade volume and increase business expenses, decreasing business earnings and business tax revenue on that end.

In today's world, in order for country to rise its standard of living it must have a trade surplus with foreign countries, you can't do that through tariffs.

Tariffs ultimately lead to higher tax burden on everyone as US is a net importer of goods.

Also, tariffs would probably lead to abandoning of the USD (one of the biggest export of US is currency), countries could take their business elsewhere where it is more profitable.

The idea of tariffs have been proven and tried to fail many times in many countries in the past and leads to inferior domestic goods. Tariff is anti-thesis of free market trade that has been the driving force of US growth.