How to fix the deficit and keep America's AAA credit rating

[IrezumiKiss]

Who knew that the worlds leading economists and the solution to our financial problems were here at Lit? Why isn't the government listening?

The government is too conservative to listen to people wax their political economic acumen on a liberal website dedicated to porn/erotica. Fuckin' Obama. This is the transparency I voted for?

 

[Sean]

I suggest taking everyone that works for a ratings agency and torturing them live on pay per view. don't kill them, that way you can do it again next week. I reckon within six months the US will be back in the black.

 

[off2bed]

...all without raising marginal tax rates:

2) Roll back the Bush tax cuts on the top 2% of Americans. That's $890 billion according to the CBO.

Thread fail.

 

[albertaboy]

They are talking about cuts of $4.0 trillion over 10 years, yet the current deficit is $1.5 trillion. All of this depends on pretty optimistic growth of the economy.

Two choices, devalue the dollar, see a flight from US treasuries, huge increases in the prices of all commodities like OIL.

The other is a balance of cuts and tax increases. The best way to spread the tax burden is a Value Added Tax. In Canada it's called GST, Goods and Services Tax. A modest VAT would solve the US deficit almost immediately.

 

[mercury14]

Your president...

You mean our president?

If you want to continue into a lost decade by all means raise taxes so that you do not have to make adult choices about entitlement spending.

The Senate plan has a couple trillion in spending cuts and is strikingly similar to the one Boehner was apparently agreeing to for a while.

 

[mercury14]

All the Republican house can manage is $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction, which turned into $900 billion when economists looked at the plan. No tax hikes, just some spending cuts that are too small to deal with the problem. Apparently Bohener's weeks of talking about supporting $800 billion in revenue increases was all a huge waste of time since the house wont support 50 cents of increases.

Meanwhile the plan in the Democratic Senate has $2.7 trillion in deficit reduction but it includes closing tax loopholes. Standard and Poor's is considering downgrading the US credit rating (a 50-50 chance they say) if there isn't a credible solution to the debt found. They suggest passing a $4 trillion agreement.

Here's how we can avoid default, slash the deficit deeply to reach that $4 trillion mark, and keep out AAA credit rating, all without raising marginal tax rates:

1) Start with the Senate plan. That's 2.7 trillion.

2) Roll back the Bush tax cuts on the top 2% of Americans. That's $890 billion according to the CBO.

3) That leaves us $310 billion, or $31 billion per year. This is a very doable figure that can be achieved by smaller cuts and/or revenue increases. Also, it's actually less than $310 billion, because if we're making deficit cuts this deep there will be far less interest to be added in. Roll back the Bush tax cuts on the top 2.5% richest, *poof*, solved.



http://news.yahoo.com/deal-no-deal-us-downgrade-looking-likely-215151805.html
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/112xx/doc11280/frontmatter.shtml

This is a good plan, and I think the Republican house plan virtually guarantees us a credit downgrade. Right now... that's what Republicans call leadership. That and spending all their time crafting their own plan they know the Senate will not even take up, much less pass. That and they think right now is a good time to try to pass a freaking constitutional amendment - Really?

As expected, the Senate plan got spanked by the CBO somewhat, so you still need to find $500 billion more over 10 years. But wow, we save $375 billion in reduced interest payments from a Senate-sized slash??? Why are Republicans insistent in implementing a plan that's not even half as large?


The Budget Office reported Wednesday morning that the plan in the Senate would save $2.2 trillion over a decade, less than the $2.7 trillion promised. When projected savings from winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are taken out, the CBO said it would save $840 billion in non-war spending by government agencies and reduce interest payments by $375 billion over a decade.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...fer-in-debt-reduction-proposal/#ixzz1TL0Duri7

 

[Ham Murabi]

All the Republican house can manage is $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction, which turned into $900 billion when economists looked at the plan. No tax hikes, just some spending cuts that are too small to deal with the problem. Apparently Bohener's weeks of talking about supporting $800 billion in revenue increases was all a huge waste of time since the house wont support 50 cents of increases.

Meanwhile the plan in the Democratic Senate has $2.7 trillion in deficit reduction but it includes closing tax loopholes. Standard and Poor's is considering downgrading the US credit rating (a 50-50 chance they say) if there isn't a credible solution to the debt found. They suggest passing a $4 trillion agreement.

Here's how we can avoid default, slash the deficit deeply to reach that $4 trillion mark, and keep out AAA credit rating, all without raising marginal tax rates:

1) Start with the Senate plan. That's 2.7 trillion.

2) Roll back the Bush tax cuts on the top 2% of Americans. That's $890 billion according to the CBO.

3) That leaves us $310 billion, or $31 billion per year. This is a very doable figure that can be achieved by smaller cuts and/or revenue increases. Also, it's actually less than $310 billion, because if we're making deficit cuts this deep there will be far less interest to be added in. Roll back the Bush tax cuts on the top 2.5% richest, *poof*, solved.



http://news.yahoo.com/deal-no-deal-us-downgrade-looking-likely-215151805.html
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/112xx/doc11280/frontmatter.shtml

Hey, cableTVray, here's an idea: Since Clinton was such a genius balancing budgets n' shit, why don't we just adopt his last budget and call it a day?

 

[mercury14]

Oh yeah, and $1 trillion of Harry's "cuts" are Obama ending his wars, which he will not do because he knows, like with the tax cuts, it will end badly and while the Democrats were willing for it to end badly while Bush was in office, they seem rather loath to do it on their watch.

Okay well you're a little late. The Afghan draw down is beginning and Iraq is well under way.

That's why we're going to be downgraded.

Lol, no it's not.

Because no one in Washington DC will do anything to save us; they are too busy trying to save themselves in the next election, all they are doing is screaming at each other about how the other is the problem and painting the only people who want to do adult things as "extremists" who want to push grandma over a cliff...

Really? How come Dems are willing to cut entitlements and raise taxes? How will that help them?

Meanwhile, yes most Republicans are doing exactly what you say. They refuse to do the adult thing, which is both cut spending AND raise taxes. Virtually every economist out there says that both need to happen to address the debt issue in a meaningful way. But the Republican party is so extremist right now that they 1) took an oath to never raise taxes one dollar, ever, and 2) they'll holler bloody murder at at any of their members that agrees to raise taxes, and do their best to take our that person in the next primary.

Therefore we end up with this breed of Republicans who never compromise, no matter what the consequences to the nation. It's zealotry and it puts stupid ideology over the success of our nation.

 

[mercury14]

http://reason.com/archives/2011/07/25/five-facts-about-the-debt

REALLY? You think Obama wants to default for his own personal gain?

 

[mercury14]

Hey, cableTVray, here's an idea: Since Clinton was such a genius balancing budgets n' shit, why don't we just adopt his last budget and call it a day?

Huh??

 

[Sean Renaud]

They are talking about cuts of $4.0 trillion over 10 years, yet the current deficit is $1.5 trillion. All of this depends on pretty optimistic growth of the economy.

Two choices, devalue the dollar, see a flight from US treasuries, huge increases in the prices of all commodities like OIL.

The other is a balance of cuts and tax increases. The best way to spread the tax burden is a Value Added Tax. In Canada it's called GST, Goods and Services Tax. A modest VAT would solve the US deficit almost immediately.

It also assumes that the next budget won't have a trillion dollar stimulus package. People keep forgeting that this year's deficiet is special. It's got abnormally low revenue due to the recession and abnormally high spending thanks to the Stimulus package.

 

[Karen Kraft]

Nope, gotta act right now. S&P and the other credit rating agencies are going to adjust out credit rating in a few weeks.

Right.

Then all the institutional investors, worldwide, will put their money into Venezuelan Bolívares instead of U.S. Treasuries.

* snark *

* snort *

 

[islandman]

Nope, gotta act right now. S&P and the other credit rating agencies are going to adjust out credit rating in a few weeks.

Next Tuesday, not in a few weeks.