<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/I-16u9x3tfE&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/I-16u9x3tfE&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> And I thought 45 trillion by 2040 was bad.
This is the single biggest problem in the United States. If we don't start paying down the debt and either stop robbing Social Security and Medicare, or stop paying those benefits, the United States won't exist beyond most of our lifetimes.
I suggest we cut corporation welfares. If we could also stop usless pork the budge would be signicantly reduced. But that is like asking crack addicts to not use crack.
If we bring home our troops from Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Germany, I bet we can get close. It's time we start defending the United States instead of the countries we went to war with.
Pork is a good start, and should be eliminated out of principle, but it's not all that big a part of the National Budget. According to CAGW, the 2006 budget had $29 Billion in Pork-barrel spending. (http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reports_pigbook2007) I know that the 2007 Congress was worse, but I haven't seen those numbers yet. We've got to cut more than just Pork.
That too. (although I'd argue the monstrous DoD budget is the best example of corporate welfare out there...) End subsidies. Eliminate the Department of Homeland wastefulness and the department of education. Ramp up funding for alternative energy and tell the middle east to go **** itself. I'm still thinking... Balanced buget amendment and a law requiring X amount/percent of debt payoff per year.
I wouldn't even do that. If we just don't clear the ground for or bail out US and multinational corporations who do business in the Middle East, it'll work itself out. I'm not interested in propping up another broken industry like we do with passenger rail and airlines.
Actually, I don't care about immigration much, even illegal immigration. I just don't like the idea that we have so few troops at home and so many defending countries that don't want to defend themselves. I'm more worried about real attacks.
My reasoning behind that statement was the elimination of exactly those "bail-outs". Unfortunately I don't think alterntive energies will become mainstream unless the government aids in research and mandates lowered pollution levels (particularly from power plants).
Put balanced budget into constitution! 10% across the board reduction in budget for the next 10 years.
When we can no longer afford the interest, we can simply default. Obviously, this will turn the $ into pieces of paper. But we can use our military to force other countries to "sell" their resources to us at our designated prices. You might think this turns us into a bad guy. But if you think about it, we will end up as a bad guy anyway if we don't change our spending ways.
How about we simply Charge those countries. . . I think along the lines in which we Pay Blackwater That would be a nice starting point Rocket River