Economics. We must bring down our deficit and create a surplus either in the Tmth administration or the next.
A surplus is not that important - bringing down the deficit the THE most important issue
A surplus would be nice.
Eh, my problem with a surplus is that it means we are taxing our citizens more heavily than we have to in order to pay for all of the government expenditures. It might be a good idea to keep in mind for when the economy is stronger, but for now I think we should just try to break even.
By surplus I mean cutting programs that aren't necessary and having money left over from our budget.
I think I was referring to that as well. My point is that it should be possible to come very near to having spending = revenue (have neither a deficit nor a surplus), & probably the more desirable course of action at this time. Having spending < revenue means having an excessive tax rate.
I think of it this way - if you're under $10,000's of dollars in credit card debt... it's kind of silly to start planning for a European holiday...
Phase one: cut spending and increase revenue (nothing stupid, so relax - considering all the stimulus and an increasing unemployment rate, this isn't working - so we need to be pragmatic, not ideological) - direct all increased revenues to....
Phase two: reduce the debt (a HUGE amount of money goes on interest and repayments)
Phase three: re-structure the tax system to ensure the corporate and income tax codes do not allow for rampant abuse
Phase four: balance the Budget --- a surplus is a nice idea and can be directed towards future investment... but it's a long way off.
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