Thursday, June 9, 2011
Help Balance the Scales
This back and forth between politicians about whether or not to cut spending has got to stop. We must balance the national budget, get it in the black, and start paying down our debt. Period. We must do it now. Here is what I recommend. We are currently running a budget deficit of about $1.1 trillion dollars on a budget of $3.7 trillion, or at least that's what we're told. I would immediately cut spending 25%, which is roughly where we were just four years ago. This would be about $925 billion. I would also recommend raising the gas tax $1 per gallon. Based on the daily usage in this country of 400 million gallons, that would equate to approximately $146 billion per year. There. Problem solved, budget balanced.
People will say how draconian and hard this would be and I agree. But we need to do this and we need to do it now before it destroys our country. We don't need VAT taxes, which would create huge new bureaucracies, and we should make the spending cuts across the board so that all share in the sacrifice. I'm not sure just how much a sacrifice it would be though. Once again, this isn't much more than we were spending just four years ago, and if we can't exist as a government on two and a half trillion dollars per year, then we've got problems. We will find, I am sure, that there is more fat in some places than others, so some programs might be eliminated rather than cut 25%. This would mean that some things would be cut less than 25%. I think, first of all, that there is at least 10%-20% fat in the budget, maybe more. After that, much of the cutting could be done through attrition, although there would have to be some layoffs. However, it may not turn out as bad as it may sound. If people realized we were serious about balancing our budget, a renaissance in investment would occur, and the private sector would take off. Those displaced government workers are presumably educated with a myriad of skills, and they could be absorbed into a robust economy.
That's my plan. It would require sacrifice from everyone, but in the long run it would be good for the nation. Combined with my plan for changing the tax code, we could get this budget balanced and get the economy going. The first thing the president should do is cut the presidential salary, staff, and expenses 25% as an example. So let's get on board. Let's all agree to do this. Let's all share the burden. Then let's all move forward to a world where we aren't spending a half a trillion dollars a year on interest on our debt. Think about what we could do then. But first we have to get there, and it's going to take a team effort. The alternative is national bankruptcy, the ridicule and shame of the world, an immediate erosion in our defensive capabilities, and a short, quick trip to second power status.