Obama Sends $3.7 Trillion Budget to Congress

[Gerald]

President Obama sent Congress a $3.73 trillion budget Monday, a spending plan for 2012 that projects $1.1 trillion in deficit savings over the next decade but also continues adding to the national debt for years to come.

Republicans, who are still trying to cut billions out of this year's budget, slammed the proposal after giving it a quick analysis Monday morning. The top Republicans on the House and Senate budget committees said it would push $8.7 trillion in new spending while piling another $13 trillion onto the debt over the next 10 years.

"It would be better to do nothing than to pass this budget," House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Monday.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011...dget-congress/


Note: Published February 14, 2011

[gimpy117]

But the republicans still wanted their tax cut bill.

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by gimpy117

But the republicans still wanted their tax cut bill.

Yes, that's right...

[Ducimus]

So if understanding the tax cuts correctly, the average American foots the bill while the gilded elite get off scott free?

edit:
Yeah i know everyone supposed to get some tax break, but porportionally, if you do the percentages, the average joe saves SQUAT. The gilded elite save millions.

edit:
I'll just leave this here:

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

So if understanding the tax cuts correctly, the average American foots the bill while the gilded elite get off scott free?

edit:
Yeah i know everyone supposed to get some tax break, but porportionally, if you do the percentages, the average joe saves SQUAT. The gilded elite save millions.

edit:
I'll just leave this here:

What is the optimal solution to the problems, I'm not for any tax increases, but if you play with the idea that to decide what to do,

[gimpy117]

well under Sen. Ryan's "road map" tax plan, the Average tax for the middle class would actually go up by $900, while the top percent save hundreds of thousands to millions. The poorest only see a reduction of 174 dollars on average.


http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3114

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by Vendor

What is the optimal solution to the problems, I'm not for any tax increases, but if you play with the idea that to decide what to do,

My opinion?

First we have to recognize that it took our nation many decades to build up this deficit/debt. To expect a workable plan to get rid of it in a few years is sophistry. There is no way we can economically withstand any drastic plan to eliminate the deficit quickly. It may be a case where the cure is worse than the disease.

Any solution will have to be a multi-generational solution and honestly that ain't gonna happen in today's sound-byte political environment.. but we can dream.

First step should be to freeze government spending. All government spending. Yes that means the military too. This will drastically slow down the growth of our deficit. It will still grow due to interest/SS/Medicare but it is a first step (if you find yourself in a deficit, first stop spending more money).

Let this solution cook for a few years to see how it works and to let the economy adapt to this change. During this time limits on SS and medicare can be slowly grandfathered in so that the current old guys who were relying on it can get it, while the younger guys who still have time to set up their own programs can do so (clearly the devil will be in the details). But the objective has to be to ween the citizens away from the "old" SS and Medicare system as we simply can't afford it in its present state. I don't think the solution is to eliminate these programs, but they do need to change.... but slowly.

Then after a few years we can cut more to the extent that even counting interest our deficit ceases to grow. Let that solution cook for a few years for the economy to adapt.

Then, and only then can we start cutting programs to start reducing the deficit and as the years pass we can continue to adjust these programs under a balanced budget schema.

But we can't do it all at once. It took us decades to screw up, it will take decades to fix. But the first step needs to be to stop increasing the spending.

We also need to recognize that any corrective action will hurt. We need to spread the hurt. Yes that means that in some cases a person who did not do anything wrong will be paying for those who did. We have to suck it up for the betterment of our country.

But like I posted before, this is strictly a fantasy. We can't get politicians to give a crap about our country even within their term, no less multi-generational. Politicians simply don't care enough.

[tater]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

So if understanding the tax cuts correctly, the average American foots the bill while the gilded elite get off scott free?

edit:
Yeah i know everyone supposed to get some tax break, but porportionally, if you do the percentages, the average joe saves SQUAT. The gilded elite save millions.

The "gilded elite" pay virtually ALL the bills.

The new budget is $12,000 per capita. No one deserves a cut who doesn't pony up enough to cover their family. We have 4 people, so our cut is $48,000. If we pay some multiple of that, and another family of 4 pays $4800, who deserves the cut again? The average joe pays for nothing at all. You could end income taxes on a standard deviation around the median of the middle bracket and it would barely be noticed.

Again, if there are any tax cuts, they should be, you know, to people actually paying taxes, and ideally those paying the most "shares" first.

This budget gives lie to Obama claiming any sort of fiscal responsibility. Send a balanced budget to Congress, or even one with a surplus or STFU. That goes to Republicans, too. Trimming off a few hundred billion isn't enough. Balanced, or STFU.

Instead of saving 1.1 trillion over 10 years (the obama plan, which increases spending, then also increases taxes), they need to have a budget that saves 1.1 trillion THIS YEAR. Alone. And every year forward. Take the 2007 budget and just change 2007 to 2012. Done.