Business leaders, economists push for deficit cut

[alp227]

Source: The Washington Post

As lawmakers squabble over cuts to domestic spending, pressure continues to build for a broader approach to the nation’s budget problems.

On Thursday, a powerful group of leaders in the business, academic and economic communities sent letters to the White House and Capitol Hill urging policymakers to work together to reduce the deficit by overhauling government retirement programs and an inefficient federal tax code. The push comes amid growing support for the kind of ambitious deficit reduction plan offered last year by President Obama’s fiscal commission, and recently embraced by a bipartisan majority of 64 senators.

One of the missives was signed by 64 economists and budget experts from both parties, including former Federal Reserve Board chairman Paul Volcker, former Clinton Treasury secretary Robert Rubin and several senior officials from the George W. Bush White House, including economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey and Council of Economic Advisers chairman Greg Mankiw.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/business_leaders_economists_push_for_deficit_cut/2011/03/31/AF9qwMAC_story.html

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Aaaargh! Milton Friedman's corpse has been reanimated

by "Free Market" necromancers.

[freshwest]

2. You said it all. The makers of disaster capitalism abroad brought it home at last.

[Wait Wut]

5. I almost choked on a cherry flavored "Mike and Ike"

I'm not sure which would've been the greater tragedy. Dying because of a random DU post that caught me off guard, or wasting my favorite flavor of M&I.

I'll have to remember to only eat the lime ones while reading DU from now on.

[SpiralHawk]

3. The Bush-Republicon deficit?

Why don't the repubs just have their billionaire puppetmasters pay it down, to atone for all their fiscal sins?

A great idea. Show some integrity, honor and patriotism for once, Repubbies.

[daggahead]

4. I never thought that ...

... "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" would play out in our own country.

[jwirr]

6. And I suppose that the small businesses followed dutifully along

behind their leaders. When are small local businesses going to realize that their future depends on the workers futures not the giant corporations? If no one on main street has any money to spend it is these small businesses that go broke not the giants.

[Rage for Order]

7. "Inefficient federal tax code"

You mean the kind of tax code that allows a US corporation to earn over $14 billion in profits and not owe a penny in corporate income tax? That inefficient federal tax code?

[sfwriter]

8. I'm good with that, patch it...

... and on retirement, bump up the SS buy in to a cool $1 Mil of income....


But wait I hear you say, those millionaires won't need SS.

BS. They need it if their lively hoods fail.

They need it to keep relatives friends and co-workers living in dignity.

They need it to keep people from slicing their damn throats for a loaf of bread.