As you say, we need to look at entitlement programs. Although It wouldn't directly result in savings, I think that there should a community service requirement to collect welfare benefits. This way, it isn't entirely a handout, and something good should come from it, both for the individual and the state.
We also need to look at some of the reasons that those programs are so expensive. For instance, one reason that medical care is so expensive in the US is that prescription drugs cost more here than they do anywhere else in the world. Importing prescription drugs should be made much simpler, it should be encouraged, and indeed, any drugs provided by government funding should be purchased in Canada.
When people in the Food and Drug Administration inevitably complain about this, cut funding to the FDA.
Speaking of drugs, the vast majority of those currently considered illegal in the US should be legalized and taxed. This will save billions of dollars lost in the ineffective "War on Drugs" and save on money spent incarcerating people for drug offenses. This will have the added benefit of easing the problem of prison overpopulation (because the US has more people in prisons than any other country in the world), it should dramatically reduce the more serious crimes associated with illegal drug trafficking, and it will actually generate income because the drugs can be taxed.
Speaking of taxes, that whole system needs an overhaul too. I, like many others, support a federal sales tax. With such a system, we wouldn't see situations where companies can receive large refunds on taxes that they didn't have to pay. At the other end of the spectrum, illegal immigrants would no longer be exempt from paying taxes. It becomes a simple question for everyone. Did you buy stuff? OK, you paid your taxes. This would allow us to abolish the IRS, which would save a great deal of money. There would also need to be a corresponding import tax, and as long as it's higher than the federal sales tax, it might allow us to being cutting into our trade deficit as well.
You mentioned military spending in your original post. That needs to be cut too. We are far too quick to engage, and our military is too active in too many places.
There's a lot more that would still need to be done, but that would be a decent start.
We also need to look at some of the reasons that those programs are so expensive. For instance, one reason that medical care is so expensive in the US is that prescription drugs cost more here than they do anywhere else in the world. Importing prescription drugs should be made much simpler, it should be encouraged, and indeed, any drugs provided by government funding should be purchased in Canada.
When people in the Food and Drug Administration inevitably complain about this, cut funding to the FDA.
Speaking of drugs, the vast majority of those currently considered illegal in the US should be legalized and taxed. This will save billions of dollars lost in the ineffective "War on Drugs" and save on money spent incarcerating people for drug offenses. This will have the added benefit of easing the problem of prison overpopulation (because the US has more people in prisons than any other country in the world), it should dramatically reduce the more serious crimes associated with illegal drug trafficking, and it will actually generate income because the drugs can be taxed.
Speaking of taxes, that whole system needs an overhaul too. I, like many others, support a federal sales tax. With such a system, we wouldn't see situations where companies can receive large refunds on taxes that they didn't have to pay. At the other end of the spectrum, illegal immigrants would no longer be exempt from paying taxes. It becomes a simple question for everyone. Did you buy stuff? OK, you paid your taxes. This would allow us to abolish the IRS, which would save a great deal of money. There would also need to be a corresponding import tax, and as long as it's higher than the federal sales tax, it might allow us to being cutting into our trade deficit as well.
You mentioned military spending in your original post. That needs to be cut too. We are far too quick to engage, and our military is too active in too many places.
There's a lot more that would still need to be done, but that would be a decent start.
Several basics facts about US Debt and Spending.....
16/04/2011 04:41:55 AM
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Guess we should have okay'd those death panels for old people then. Big money saver. *NM*
16/04/2011 03:38:00 PM
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Balancing our budget would be easy.
16/04/2011 06:46:32 PM
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Several of those aren't as easy as you make it sound, but the import tax is a big no-no.
16/04/2011 07:34:30 PM
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Also on the buying drugs from Canada idea
16/04/2011 08:17:26 PM
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Funny you mentioned WWII and 1968. Can you put tax rates at these times as well?
16/04/2011 07:50:09 PM
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Not really. Even if you can substantially raise tax revenue, the entitlement problem remains. *NM*
16/04/2011 08:25:26 PM
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Re: Not really. Even if you can substantially raise tax revenue, the entitlement problem remains.
16/04/2011 09:19:40 PM
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Have you ever looked at those projections for a decade or two hence?
16/04/2011 10:13:12 PM
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Yes I have
16/04/2011 10:44:50 PM
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Erm, and you think total health care spending is not getting out of control? I'm a little confused.
16/04/2011 11:02:52 PM
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Exactly. Cutting back on fraud and waste doesn't really put much of a dent in those projections. *NM*
17/04/2011 02:31:13 AM
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Sorry, but that is a stupid opinion.....
16/04/2011 08:38:35 PM
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Sounds like another bull.
16/04/2011 09:31:05 PM
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Dude, the data is the data.....tax revenue increased all three times.
16/04/2011 09:47:37 PM
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As I suspected, it's a bull.
16/04/2011 10:02:05 PM
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Stop being a fool - read and react to the data provided, posting something.....
16/04/2011 10:14:11 PM
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Response is
16/04/2011 10:19:00 PM
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Good lord.....it's like talking to a brick. I really hope you are 12 or 13.
16/04/2011 10:28:44 PM
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Re: Good lord.....it's like talking to a brick. I really hope you are 12 or 13.
16/04/2011 10:47:24 PM
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I take it you mean "rate of revenue growth decreases".
16/04/2011 11:11:19 PM
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It's not remarkable that revenue increased after the Reagan cuts.
17/04/2011 07:21:47 PM
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I've just noticed that you've provided charts from Heritage Foundation! Are you f.. kidding me?
16/04/2011 10:13:46 PM
- 647 Views
All the data is via CBO - do you know that the CBO is?
16/04/2011 10:16:08 PM
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Re: All the data is via CBO - do you know that the CBO is?
16/04/2011 10:27:01 PM
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Nice try.....care to explain why the same exact thing happened.....
16/04/2011 10:35:44 PM
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Re: Nice try.....care to explain why the same exact thing happened.....
16/04/2011 10:49:33 PM
- 714 Views
Krugman is a shill for the Obama administration.
17/04/2011 02:34:50 AM
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Re: Krugman is a shill for the Obama administration.
17/04/2011 03:50:24 AM
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Some obesrvations by Republican economists
18/04/2011 12:27:04 AM
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You mean the Keynesian economist who wrote The Failure of Reaganomics
18/04/2011 04:00:52 PM
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Re: You mean the Keynesian economist who wrote The Failure of Reaganomics
18/04/2011 05:36:44 PM
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You use Krugman and then complain about the Heritage Foundation! Are you f.. kidding me? *NM*
18/04/2011 02:46:47 AM
- 305 Views