What are your best ideas for balancing the Federal budget?

[TheFarseer]

Ending the war is the most obvious idea, but what else have you guys got? Don't hold back! Any ideas you've got, I want to hear them.

[Odin2005]

1. Cut the defense budget, Raise taxes on the rich. Impliment a carbon tax.

[Cleita]

2. I can't improve on this.

:thumbsup:

[anonymous171]

3. Cut defense budget, end the Empire, tax capital gains, tax the rich

Appropriate more funds to IRS specifically for hunting down the wealthy's assets. Implement draconian laws and penalties for white collar crimes and increase enforcement of those laws.

[TheFarseer]

9. That's pretty much what I'm thinking

I think I would cut out a bunch of credits too. Some are redundant and confusing. More IRS agents is a good way to spend money to make money. I would audit the bejezus out of outsourcers.

[WonderGrunion]

4. After scaling back the military. End subsidies for corporations.

Aggressively enforce all business regulations and use the fines to reinvest in infrastructure.

Spend money on infrastructure and education as long term deficit reduction.

Increase money on crime prevention. Each dollar spent on prevention programs like youth basketball saves $11 in enforcement costs later.

[TheFarseer]

16. I'm not sure more regulation on business is a good idea.

Much better if business is hiring people to make products than hiring people to document crap.

Spending money on infrastructure and education is never a bad idea.

[WonderGrunion]

21. I'm not talking about new regualtion.

The Bush administration basically told it's regulatory agents to just back off and give big business a pass. That lack of oversight led to much of the current financial crisis. Enforcement of existing rules is vital to a growing economy.

[tridim]

5. Further limit lobbyist/special interest power.

Thankfully the administration has already started doing this.

[ElmoBlatz]

26. Who do you define as a "special interest"?

[sharesunited]

6. Government owned business. Tax rate on profits would be 100 percent.

[anonymous171]

7. Authoritarian "communism" is never a good idea. nt

[sharesunited]

10. I don't favor seizing existing private business. I advocate the commencement of new enterprises.

[Hansel]

27. +1

[Cosmocat]

8. How did Clinton do it?

1) Bush threw the tax base off with this tax cuts ... Up the rate on the upper 10 percent or whatever it is from 35 back up to 39, where Clinton got it and found a little better balance. Also, reinstate dividend taxes.

2) Reestablish Paygo as a law ...

I agree with the other ideas advanced, limiting if not ELIMINATING the ability of non human beings to donate to political campaigns, cutting back a tick on military spending ... But, the above two are the major steps necessary to get the budget back in line.

But, by the time BO would get it balanced, the american people will ONCE AGAIN be suckered by Sarah Palin or whoever to get their $300 breadcrumbs in return for another repackaged trickledown scam ...

[drdtroit]

11. Make the wealthy pay THEIR share of taxes! n/t

[SammyWinstonJack]

35. hehe.

:silly: Taxes are only for the little people. :silly:

[Hamlette]

12. The debt needs to come down. Nearly 20% of our tax dollars go to pay interest on our debt.

that money is just going down a rat hole. Think of what we could have with all that money.

[abelenkpe]

28. worldwide jubilee

would help alleviate most harm caused by and shorten duration of world economic crisis. Debt loads need to come down for everyone and every government. I'd prefer jubilee over the potential social upheaval that every society seems to be careening towards due to the teetering economy.

Then tax the rich, reduce military spending, invest in infrastructure, education and alternative energy.

[Warren Stupidity]

13. Why should the budget be balanced?

[TheFarseer]

17. refer to post 11

We're spending 20% of our budget to pay interest on the debt. No one cold possibly think that's the best use for our money. Do you know what we could do with that money if we weren't paying it in interest?

[Zynx]

22. There's not much we can do about that in the short term.

In fact, as the economy recovers the debt service costs will start increasing.

[Warren Stupidity]

25. Oh I think reducing the debt service level would be good

but that does not require the mythical 'balanced budget'. I do not think there is any real world need or requirement that the federal budget be 'balanced'. Instead that is a right wing screed on which cuts in pension payments, health care services, unemployment compensation, education, housing, and other government programs that actually help people are sacrificed.

[applegrove]

14. A value added tax like we have in Canada. If you save your money and don't

spend it on consumer goods and services, you don't pay taxes.

[anonymous171]

15. Regressive taxation is not the answer. In fact it is never the answer.

Unless we are taxing luxury items like sports cars or designer clothing.

[applegrove]

People who don't have money get government money back twice a year.

[laughingliberal]

20. +1000 nt

[Hippo_Tron]

18. End the war on drugs

[Zynx]

19. Raise the top two brackets to 45% and 40% respectively.

Back out of the wars as well as reducing the R&D budget for the Defense Department. We have to hold almost all other discretionary spending flat and let revenue grow at a faster rate. If we can get the deficit down to less than 1% of GDP by 2014, we're in good shape.

[laughingliberal]

23. Scale way back on defense spending. Take some of the savings and invest them in jobs creation

Spending that actually creates jobs does increase revenue and pays a lot of the deficit down over time. Raise income taxes on the wealthy. Institute windfall profit taxes on oil companies and for profit insurance companies.

[ElmoBlatz]

24. It's quite obvious

Clearly, revenue levels are too low. Raise taxes. It really is the only way. However, we have legislators with no courage.

[TheFarseer]

34. you can raise taxes OR cut spending

I advocate both.

[Octafish]

29. Tax those who've ripped off the US Treasury.

Big Oil and War Inc. and those who own both -- the War Party.

[lame54]

30. Raiding the repug bank accounts

[Doc_Technical]

31. Deactivate one aircraft carrier strike group.

Deactivate 10 ballistic missile submarines.
Withdraw our military forces from western Europe.
Return to the tax code of the early 1950s for
individuals and corporations.
Make it illegal for a political candidate
to receive money for their campaign,
anyone running for political office gets free
use of the media.
Pass a law that the highest compensated person in
a company cannot receive more than 100 times the
compensation of the lowest paid employee.
Tax church businesses.
Line item veto.
Make IRAs non taxable.
No tax on interest from savings under a certain amount (50,000?)

[timeforpeace]

32. End the wars, raise taxes, seize the corporations.

[Atticus]

33. In addition to the excellent suggestions already mentioned, why not

1.) Repeal the Bush tax cuts and BUMP them another 10%;

2.) Repeal ALL exemptions to anti-trust laws;

3.) Use a sliding scale to tax miles driven by vehicles not getting at leas 35 mpg;

4.) Pass a Federal Estate tax which would take 50% of all estates over $10 million;

5.) Tax at a 95% rate earnings of all "Malevolent Media Personalities"; (just for grins!)

[Kip Humphrey]

36. 1.5% transaction tax on ALL financial transactions: currency exchanges, overnight fed funds, etc..

[CreekDog]

37. Improving the economy --nothing else we do would be as effective

once the economy improves, tax increases in a period of growth would be appropriate.

[kentauros]

38. These ideas are all well and good (and quite good in most cases)

but what's to stop the next republican administration from rescinding them all or sitting on their thumbs when it comes to enforcement?

We recognize that there are some laws that will always be on the books and enforced, like those against murder, assault, theft, and so on. What we need is a way of making laws (like taxing the wealthy) to be so difficult to remove as to not be worth the effort. In a way, healthcare is like that in England, because it's political suicide to ever vote against it.

Find a way to keep the taxes on the wealthy in place once implemented (and enforced), reign in the military spending in the same manner and we will have a fine government again, indeed! :D