Balancing the Budget

[barfbag]

I've stated in the previous thread that we need to have term limits so that politicians can no longer establish the monopoly they have on pork. Another helpful law would be a balanced budget amendment requiring the federal government to balance the budget at the end of each year. Let's talk some more about our debt because right now if every single family paid $100,000 we still wouldn't have enough money to pay off our deficits. How expensive does Washington have to make it to live in this country? To be fair, I'd still like to ask for those of you interested to find facts about the debt per household and whether or not Obama has doubled our debt. I've seen that during the Obama Administration our debt has gone up over 50% as opposed to doubling it. Either way, our debt is not a new problem. Our surplus was lost during the Bush Administration as well. Now during Obama's presidency, we've lost our AAA rating. Our taxpayer money should be held as sacred to politicians and not be used as if it were toilet paper. While I still support necessary infrastructure in times of recession because it does help the economy by getting people back to work, frivolous earmarks such as the big dig project and bridges to nowhere have to go. Federal spending needs to be limited to per-capita inflation rate rather than having the debt ceiling raised. So here is my proposal.

Term limits will cause spending to decrease.
Infrastructure is good during recessions but must have time tables.
No blank checks for infrastructure.
Ban frivolous earmarks because they're a code word for bribery.
Limit fiscal spending to per-capita inflation rate.
Constitutional amendment requiring the federal government to balance the budget annually.
Balanced budgets will bring back our AAA bond rating.

Without demanding higher taxes on the rich which wouldn't pay off our debt for centuries, what else could be done to balance our budget and provide a better future for our children?

[Blue3]

We already have a AAA bond rating for most credit agencies

A balanced budget amendment would basically just give fiscal power to Judges

Infrastructure does not add to the deficit, only the debt, because they're one-time investments

[barfbag]

We already have a AAA bond rating for most credit agencies

A balanced budget amendment would basically just give fiscal power to Judges

Infrastructure does not add to the deficit, only the debt, because they're one-time investments

Yes have to keep the judges out of it. I misused deficit for debt when discussing infrastructure. One time investments are the way to go. I hate blank checks without deadlines like bridges to nowhere and the big dig. What else do you think?

[Blue3]

We already have a AAA bond rating for most credit agencies

A balanced budget amendment would basically just give fiscal power to Judges

Infrastructure does not add to the deficit, only the debt, because they're one-time investments

Yes have to keep the judges out of it. I misused deficit for debt when discussing infrastructure. One time investments are the way to go. I hate blank checks without deadlines like bridges to nowhere and the big dig. What else do you think?

Tax Reform, Entitlement Reform, and Job Creation will balance the budget. It's too late now for me to get into details, but the solution should focus on those three areas. As well as looking into how to lower medical costs overall, such as allowing imported drugs from Canada and allowing Medicare to bargain for prices.

[barfbag]

We already have a AAA bond rating for most credit agencies

A balanced budget amendment would basically just give fiscal power to Judges

Infrastructure does not add to the deficit, only the debt, because they're one-time investments

Yes have to keep the judges out of it. I misused deficit for debt when discussing infrastructure. One time investments are the way to go. I hate blank checks without deadlines like bridges to nowhere and the big dig. What else do you think?

Tax Reform, Entitlement Reform, and Job Creation will balance the budget. It's too late now for me to get into details, but the solution should focus on those three areas. As well as looking into how to lower medical costs overall, such as allowing imported drugs from Canada and allowing Medicare to bargain for prices.

I'm at least with you on Medicare bargaining for prices. As for taxes, if we tax everyone at 100% for 20 years, we'd still be in debt. This means taxing the rich higher than what they're taxed now would produce nothing but a little chunk change. No one ever wants to cut entitlements, but the less we spend, the less into debt we go. Jobs can be created through lower corporate taxes, job training centers for the homeless, non-discriminatory policies regarding minorities and homosexuals, term limits for welfare recipients, repealing repetitive stress laws, targeting investments for infrastructure, tax incentives for small farms, and applying the right to work law. These implementations would lead to more workers paying taxes to the government. Spending must remain low though.

[politicallefty]

I think a balanced budget is definitely a worthwhile goal if the economy is relatively strong. It shouldn't be a priority when the economy is not well. The national debt in and of itself isn't a bad thing. However, it is important to consider it as related to GDP. We should have been maintaining the Clinton surpluses during the Bush years, or at least a balanced budget. There was no excuse for Bush to run up a budget deficits every year of his Presidency. I don't like the massive deficits under President Obama, but it's an unfortunate part of recovering from the financial crisis.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Balancing the budget now is one of the stupidest things the US could do.