How would you fix the United States' budget problem?

[Drekka]

Increase spending in the military complex (create jobs in factories/ weapon contract competition)

Increase taxes on wealthy

put prisoners to work. (no one should be sitting on their ass in a jail cell)

more evenly distribute wealth.

More student loans for high-productivity degrees

Add "sin taxes" to junk food

Invest in 3D printer tech ( efficient domestic production of goods )

Drive curfews

stricter gas mileage standards ( force car companies to invest in alternative fuels)




inspired by FDR's " New Deal"

[Our Most Resplendent Goddess Sen]

You know what's unfair? A percentage-based tax, since it punishes the rich for being rich. A truly flat tax is clearly needed, where everybody pays the exact same amount.

That's not a flat tax, that's called a lump sum tax. Good luck getting any support for that.

On the contrary, a percentage-based "flat" tax is not flat at all, since some people are paying more than other people.

Obviously unfair, that.

[Nazis in Space]

Someone please explain to me what, precisely, this crisis is.

Last I checked America is paying its bills just fine. Its debts, as a percentage of the GDP, are well within the standard range for first world countries.

I'm just not seeing this supposed 'Crisis'.

[New England and The Maritimes]

Someone please explain to me what, precisely, this crisis is.

Last I checked America is paying its bills just fine. Its debts, as a percentage of the GDP, are well within the standard range for first world countries.

I'm just not seeing this supposed 'Crisis'.

BIG NUMBERS!!! SHOCK AND HORROR! DID YOU KNOW THAT CHINA OWNS 900 BILLION DOLLARS OF DEBT! THATS LIKE SOOO MUCH! YOU COULD BUY LIKE A QUADRILLION TWINKIES WITH THAT!

[Mr Bananagrabber]

That's not a flat tax, that's called a lump sum tax. Good luck getting any support for that.

On the contrary, a percentage-based "flat" tax is not flat at all, since some people are paying more than other people.

Obviously unfair, that.

That's not what flat tax means. Flat tax means a flat rate. When everybody pays the same quantity of tax, that's called a lump sum tax. I don't care so much about the lunacy of your opinion, but get your definitions straight.

[Neu Leonstein]

1) I see. A much better figure, then.

I would add to this that by letting the Bush tax cuts expire, we would actually see a massive amount of revenue that could offset some of my near-term spending plans. The longer-term plans are expensive, sure, but manageably so: they are about making structural changes to the way welfare and pension expenses will work in a few decades time.

2) I realise this, but conditions are much different today than they were at the end of WWII. There are investment opportunities other than the US.

Not very good ones...Europe looks a bit dodgy, South America and Russia/Central Asia will steal your stuff, Africa is still a basket case for everyone but mobile phone companies, Japan's returns are negative and will stay there (plus there's a budget crisis rolling towards them) and China won't let you put your money in and out as you want to. Australia's too small, and people seem convinced there's too much risk there.

So yeah, depressing though it may be, the US is probably the best bet at this stage. Maybe South-East Asia too, if they can manage inflation and capital flows.

3) Yeah, the real return is negative. But this, IMO, is temporary. Not that the US shouldn't take advantage of the situation (in my own plan, I did actually recommend the US fund some of the measures I proposed in the short-term, via issuance of bonds), but it shouldn't expect for the situation to last more than a year tops. It's a direct result of the equity markets being in the toilet, and the uncertainty arising from the Eurozone crisis.

Basing any sort of plan on expecting the real interest rate to be negative is faulty at best.

Even if it is temporary - right now there is the opportunity to issue plenty of debt. And once it's issued, for your normal variety of instruments that rate is set for life. No matter what rates will do eight years from now, your ten-year coupon payments stay at less than 2%, and hence nicely below what one might call a reasonable estimate of inflation. Really, if I was the US Treasury I'd want to front-load as much debt issuance as people will let me get away with. I suspect that'd be politically unwise though.

[No-Ghost Zone]

Cut military, end wars, encourage private competition for medicare, fase out social security (not immediately to avoid hurting people), cut taxes (so more people make more money),

[Our Most Resplendent Goddess Sen]

On the contrary, a percentage-based "flat" tax is not flat at all, since some people are paying more than other people.

Obviously unfair, that.

That's not what flat tax means. Flat tax means a flat rate. When everybody pays the same quantity of tax, that's called a lump sum tax. I don't care so much about the lunacy of your opinion, but get your definitions straight.

I don't really care about what people call it; what matters to me is that which actually is. Calling a constant-rate tax flat is rather like calling the pyramids flat because their sides have a consistent slope. It is just utterly nonsensical in ways that should be blindingly obvious to anyone who actually stops to think about it. The only truly flat tax is one where everybody pays an equal amount, as is just and fair. The use of the word flat to describe rate-based taxes is a liberal ploy designed to sneak the idea of a punishingly progressive tax scheme in under the noses of taxpayers while assuring them that it is "fair" and "just".

[Mr Bananagrabber]

That's not what flat tax means. Flat tax means a flat rate. When everybody pays the same quantity of tax, that's called a lump sum tax. I don't care so much about the lunacy of your opinion, but get your definitions straight.

I don't really care about what people call it; what matters to me is that which actually is. Calling a constant-rate tax flat is rather like calling the pyramids flat because their sides have a consistent slope. It is just utterly nonsensical in ways that should be blindingly obvious to anyone who actually stops to think about it. The only truly flat tax is one where everybody pays an equal amount, as is just and fair. The use of the word flat to describe rate-based taxes is a liberal ploy designed to sneak the idea of a punishingly progressive tax scheme in under the noses of taxpayers while assuring them that it is "fair" and "just".

Oh my god, "flat" doesn't mean "fair", you fucking stooge. Taxation is partitioned into "regressive", "flat", and "progressive" based on whether the effective tax rate is decreasing, constant, or increasing in income. This isn't up for discussion. You don't get to go around redefining words! If you think that a "fair" tax is one where everybody pays the same quantity of tax, fine. But a "flat tax" is by definition a constant tax rate. So drop the Humpty Dumpty bullshit. Since you're using language to communicate with people, it's up to you to make sure that the words you're using correctly reflect the ideas you're trying to express. No more of this "a word means whatever I say it means" nonsense.

[No-Ghost Zone]

I don't really care about what people call it; what matters to me is that which actually is. Calling a constant-rate tax flat is rather like calling the pyramids flat because their sides have a consistent slope. It is just utterly nonsensical in ways that should be blindingly obvious to anyone who actually stops to think about it. The only truly flat tax is one where everybody pays an equal amount, as is just and fair. The use of the word flat to describe rate-based taxes is a liberal ploy designed to sneak the idea of a punishingly progressive tax scheme in under the noses of taxpayers while assuring them that it is "fair" and "just".

Oh my god, "flat" doesn't mean "fair", you fucking stooge. Taxation is partitioned into "regressive", "flat", and "progressive" based on whether the effective tax rate is decreasing, constant, or increasing in income. This isn't up for discussion. You don't get to go around redefining words! If you think that a "fair" tax is one where everybody pays the same quantity of tax, fine. But a "flat tax" is by definition a constant tax rate. So drop the Humpty Dumpty bullshit. Since you're using language to communicate with people, it's up to you to make sure that the words you're using correctly reflect the ideas you're trying to express. No more of this "a word means whatever I say it means" nonsense.

If a tax system where everyone pays the same isn't fair I don't know what is...

[Laerod]

Oh my god, "flat" doesn't mean "fair", you fucking stooge. Taxation is partitioned into "regressive", "flat", and "progressive" based on whether the effective tax rate is decreasing, constant, or increasing in income. This isn't up for discussion. You don't get to go around redefining words! If you think that a "fair" tax is one where everybody pays the same quantity of tax, fine. But a "flat tax" is by definition a constant tax rate. So drop the Humpty Dumpty bullshit. Since you're using language to communicate with people, it's up to you to make sure that the words you're using correctly reflect the ideas you're trying to express. No more of this "a word means whatever I say it means" nonsense.

If a tax system where everyone pays the same isn't fair I don't know what is...

A tax system where everyone pays what they can bear.

[Mr Bananagrabber]

Oh my god, "flat" doesn't mean "fair", you fucking stooge. Taxation is partitioned into "regressive", "flat", and "progressive" based on whether the effective tax rate is decreasing, constant, or increasing in income. This isn't up for discussion. You don't get to go around redefining words! If you think that a "fair" tax is one where everybody pays the same quantity of tax, fine. But a "flat tax" is by definition a constant tax rate. So drop the Humpty Dumpty bullshit. Since you're using language to communicate with people, it's up to you to make sure that the words you're using correctly reflect the ideas you're trying to express. No more of this "a word means whatever I say it means" nonsense.

If a tax system where everyone pays the same isn't fair I don't know what is...

Fine. I don't really care about that conversation. If you don't realise instantly that bankrupting people with low incomes in unfair, it's probably not worth talking to you. But that's not the point. The point is "flat tax" means "constant tax rate".

[Forster Keys]

I have a very simple five step plan.

1. Reduce military spending by 50%. Yes, vague, but a committee can deal with selecting what has to go.
2. Close all tax loopholes.
3. Increase taxes on the rich to about 55-60%.
4. Replace the entire healthcare clusterfuck with a streamlined universal healthcare plan.
5. Using the money that the military doesn't have any more, start public works programs.

Go gadget go.

[Forster Keys]

Do away with Social Security (temporarily), slash the military budget, use the money not going towards those departments to pay the debt. Improve education, give companies incentives to relocate to America, where they can provide jobs, and legalize same-sex marriage.

Doing away with social security for a time? Not a good idea.

[Forster Keys]

Someone please explain to me what, precisely, this crisis is.

Last I checked America is paying its bills just fine. Its debts, as a percentage of the GDP, are well within the standard range for first world countries.

I'm just not seeing this supposed 'Crisis'.

BIG NUMBERS!!! SHOCK AND HORROR! DID YOU KNOW THAT CHINA OWNS 900 BILLION DOLLARS OF DEBT! THATS LIKE SOOO MUCH! YOU COULD BUY LIKE A QUADRILLION TWINKIES WITH THAT!

Really? I'm in the wrong business. I should be a world power.

[Orthaethaczil]

Reducing expenses doesnt result into reducing debt.

Greece is the best example.

Austerity leads to economic decline and the raise of extremists. Nazi germany would have never happened without the economic crisis.

The time tested alternatives to such a disastrous course are:

(a) Inflation. For example, the Hyperinflation of 1923 reduced germanys state debt to the price of a bread. But even in lesser degree, inflation can work wonders for state debt. UK right now, for example, has about 5% inflation, but only grants 2% interest on their government bonds. Effectively, the state debt is getting reduced by 3% per year without anything done at all by the government.

(b) Tax the rich. Thats actually pretty hard. The rich own the press, and any politician demanding taxes for the rich can be guaranteed to no longer get any good press. This shows what an awesome politician FDR was in his time. He also had help, though, because other people demanded even more radical ideas, such as a limit to the wealth of the individual. Compared to that, FDR still looked tame.

[Orthaethaczil]

Doing away with social security for a time? Not a good idea.

The USA has already done away with social security. Why do you think the USA has less than 1/20th of the world population, but 1/4 of the worlds prison population ? Because the social state is so weak people have to resort to crime in order to feed themselves.

Richest country in the world, but all politicians are millionaires and they cant even "affort" a social state that fulfills the basic demands of human rights.

[Milks Empire]

Doing away with social security for a time? Not a good idea.

The USA has already done away with social security. Why do you think the USA has less than 1/20th of the world population, but 1/4 of the worlds prison population ? Because the social state is so weak people have to resort to crime in order to feed themselves.
Richest country in the world, but all politicians are millionaires and they cant even "affort" a social state that fulfills the basic demands of human rights.

Social Security refers to a specific program here.

[New Chalcedon]

A common arguement against fair tax. However, people have choices in how much they spend and it will encourage people to be more frugal. Tax on food too high? Grow a vegetable garden and raise chickens (if you are in a rural area). Tax on housing too high? Live in shared housing to decrease expenses. There are poor cheapskates and people with great jobs living paycheck to paycheck. We can find people to support and oppose that common idea. The bottom line is that flat tax (either consumption or income) is the only fair tax. The bottom 20% of Americans pay very little taxes, many pay none. Is this fair? The poorest people use govt. services the most and pay the least-this sounds unfair to me.

From each according to his ability, to each according to his need (or needs) is a slogan popularised by Karl Marx. Very dangerous statement and the progressive tax follows Marx's philosophy. We all know what happened to countries that follow Marx's ideas as cosely as possible.

You know what's unfair? A percentage-based tax, since it punishes the rich for being rich. A truly flat tax is clearly needed, where everybody pays the exact same amount.

Wasn't that a centrepiece of French finance, prior to the first revolution?

[NyxNyke]

Doing away with social security for a time? Not a good idea.

The USA has already done away with social security. Why do you think the USA has less than 1/20th of the world population, but 1/4 of the worlds prison population ? Because the social state is so weak people have to resort to crime in order to feed themselves.

Richest country in the world, but all politicians are millionaires and they cant even "affort" a social state that fulfills the basic demands of human rights.

None of the criminals are feeding themselves. It is mostly about drugs. Legalizing drugs and prostitution are two things that would help, in the US, medical insurance is the problem not the solution. I paid $24.76 on a bill that was $744 so $739 just disappeared? Was that money they really did not need or just their way of scarring everyone into having insurance.

[ReVaQ]

Establish the Nixon taxes, higher taxes on the rich, lower on the poor. Sustainable energy should be encouraged. Reduce amount of the military budget significantly, put more money to NASA. Let it be easier to make a small company, regulate and be strict with big corporations & banks. Make the law enforcement more "moral" and less "corrupt". Separate government & church. Invest in rehabilitation instead of punishment - take Norway as an example -. Make the healthcare system profit by helping people instead of sending them off. Insurance companies should be reliable like in France. Set a limit on people that sues other and the amount craved.

Basically, become like Sweden/Denmark/Norway..

[The Republic of Alaska]

Well, for starters, stop buying all that cheap garbage from China and start manufacturing our own shit.

Also, higher tax for the rich.

[Yandere Schoolgirls]

When I'm in debt the first thing I do is cut spending, so that I can afford to pay my debt. Not increase spending and dig myself further in the hole which is what many economic illiterates basically advocate.

In order for the US to solve its budget problem they need to save not spend.

America's large amount of debt is all due to wasteful spending. It's not that hard to figure out, unless of course you've been brain washed by the state or some other authoritative entity. Another theory of mine for why people have prefer sort of a creepy Orwellian opinion that low saving rates and higher prices are good is that the people who buy such lunacy are themselves dishonest and inept people. Socialism and Keynesian economic theories are both two very dishonest theories/ideas about how the world works and what's right. They both support a false virtue of theft under the guise of an angelic do-no-evil state. I believe anyone who prefers honest and most of all quality will see that the Austrian mode of economics is clearly superior and right in every aspect.

Inflation will only make it harder for Americans to afford things, and likewise harder for companies to stay in business especially smaller businesses. Eventually if interest rates don't raise, and we don't have a period of deflation than we will have hyper-inflation and will be even worse off.
Eventually, raising interests rates and allowing deflation to take place will work it's magic. Lower prices will make things cheaper for poorer folks, and force people to begin saving and paying off their debts which will pave the roads for new enterprises to grow and create jobs that will replace the old ones that will be lost, but doing this requires sacrifice that politicians aren't man enough to make.

So quite simply for those of you who don't have the patience to sit through another repetitive post of mine(many are since the truth rarely changes much) Here's a picture summary;

[Divair]

I have a very simple five step plan.

1. Reduce military spending by 50%. Yes, vague, but a committee can deal with selecting what has to go.
2. Close all tax loopholes.
3. Increase taxes on the rich to about 55-60%.
4. Replace the entire healthcare clusterfuck with a streamlined universal healthcare plan.
5. Using the money that the military doesn't have any more, start public works programs.

Go gadget go.

Not sure if approval or mockery.

[Forster Keys]

Go gadget go.

Not sure if approval or mockery.

I thought you knew my politics by now Divair! Wholesale approval.