by Jack lee
We need four trillion dollars in spending cuts and we need them now, says the bi-partisan federal deficit reduction committee. It’s a bitter sweet validation of what conservatives have been saying all along: The United States government has been spending way too much for way too long and both political party’s are guilty. “It’s time to sober up or sleep in the streets” said former senator and now Co-Chair Alan Simpson of the deficit commission.
Simpson’s short, terse message reflected how grave this situation has become and yet even as his words still echoed in the hallowed halls of Congress, democrat legislators approved another $3.1bn in needless spending on Medicare and a food safety bill.
“These are tough times, requiring tough decisions and indeed tough votes. . .”
– Alan Simpson
Here are some of the key recommendations:
Social Security cuts:
Index the retirement age to longevity — i.e., increase the retirement age to qualify for Social Security — to age 69 by 2075.
Index Social Security yearly increases to a lower inflation rate, which will generally mean lower cost of living increases and less money per average recipient.
“Increase progressivity of benefit formula” — i.e., reduce benefits by 2050 for middle, and, especially, higher earners, relative to current benefits.
Increase the Social Security contribution ceiling: while people only pay Social Security taxes on the first $106,800 of their wages today, that’s only about 86% of the total potentially taxable wages. The co-chairs suggest raising the ceiling to capture 90% of wages.
Tax reform:
The co-chairs suggest capping both government expenditures and revenue at 21% of GDP eventually.
In their first plan, called “The Zero Plan,” they suggest reducing the tax brackets to three personal brackets and one corporate rate while eliminated all credits and deductions. Without any credits or deductions (including the EITC and mortgage interest deductions), the 3 tax rates would be 8, 14 and 23 percent.
In their second plan, they would increase the personal deduction to $15,000, create 3 tax brackets (15, 25 and 35%); repeal or significantly curtail a number of popular tax deductions (including the state and local deduction and the mortgage interest deduction); and eliminate other tax expenditures.
The third plan would force Congress to undertake comprehensive tax reform by 2012 by raising taxes for each year Congress fails to act.
All their proposals limit Congress to collecting taxes on income made within the United States, reducing or eliminating taxes on American expats and revenues companies earn abroad.
They also suggest raising the federal gas tax by 15 cents per gallon.
Medicaid/Medicare cuts
Force more low-income individuals into Medicaid managed care.
Increase Medicaid co-pays.
Accelerate already-planned cuts to Medicare Advantage and home health care programs.
Create a cap for Medicaid/Medicare growth that would force Congress and the President to increase premiums or co-pays or raise the Medicare eligibility age (among other options) if the system encounters cost overruns over the course of 5 years.
Discretionary spending cuts
Eliminate all earmarks.
Eliminate the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools.
Freeze federal worker wage increases through 2014; eliminate 200,000 federal jobs by 2020; and eliminate 250,000 federal non-defense contractor jobs by 2015.
Eliminate subsidized student loans, in which the government makes interest payments while the student is in school.
Establish co-pays in the VA medical system and change the co-pays and deductibles for military retirees that remain in that system.
Eliminate NASA funding for commercial space flight.
Require the Smithsonian museums to start charging entrance fees and raise fees at the national parks.
Eliminate funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — which many conservatives suggested in the wake of the firing of former NPR contributor Juan Williams.
Reduce farm subsidies by $3 billion per year.
Create a Committee to eliminate unnecessary programs to the tune of $11 billion by 2015.
Merge the Department of Commerce and the Small Business Administration and cut its budget by 10 percent.
End “low-priority” Army Corps of Engineers programs to the tune of $1 billion by 2015.
Cut the State Department’s overseas budget by 10 percent by 2015; reduce the proposed foreign aid budget by 10 percent in 2015; and cut voluntary contributions to the United Nations by 10 percent in 2015.
Eliminate the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, which provides subsidized financing and political risk insurance for U.S. companies’ investments abroad.
Cut $900 million in fossil fuel research funds.
Force airlines to increase their contributions to airline security costs and allow them to increase per-ticket security fees.
Defense spending cuts:
Double the number of defense contractor positions scheduled for elimination from 10 percent of current staff augmentees to 20 percent.
Reduce procurement by 15 percent, or $20 billion.
Eliminate the V-22 Osprey program.
Cancel the Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle program.
Halve the number of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in favor of F-16s and F/A-18Es.
Cancel the Marine Corps F-35 program.
Cancel the Navy’s Future Maritime Prepositioning Force.
Cancel the new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), the Ground Combat Vehicle, and the Joint Tactical Radio.
Reduce military forces in Europe and Asia by one-third.
Send all military children based in the U.S. to local schools.
The report also recommends tort reform as a way to reduce Medicare and Medicaid expenditure
“….democrat legislators approved another $3.1bn in needless spending on Medicare and a food safety bill.”
The US government is broke, our state is broke and our next two generations are destined to be broke – and yet we keep spending? Then the system is broke!
Our legislators have been approving lavish spending bills for years that no rational, thinking person could ever possibly approve. This begs the question, why? How could a well educated, intelligent partisan legislator pass some of the most wasteful, unnecessary and costly legislation ever known in our history?
The connection between special interest money and suspect legislation has never been more obvious. That money trail is right in front of our faces and it’s brought this state and our nation down to our knees financially.
This blatant greed and need for partisan power has forced the citizens of this state and others to bypass the normal legislative process and take matters into their own hands. They have brought us reform propositions time after time and despite the widespread approval ratings for campaign finance reform these initiatives have always been vigorously opposed by the two big party’s for dubious reasons. The truth of the matter is special interest money is akin to the golden goose and neither party wishes to lose it. This is exactly why both dems and reps have repeatedly flaunted the will of the people on this critical issue and ruthlessly crushed every attempt at reform via lawsuits funded by that same special interest money. The other side, the little guys, supporting reform was no match for their seemingly limitless legal funds.
Now here’s your thought for the day. If our representatives continually cave in to this special interest money – what chance do we have of making those harsh cuts as recommended by the deficit reduction committee to save this country and our future generations? The republicans say they are behind us this time – we’ll see.
And Nancy Pelosi still insists we can’t “pay for” tax cuts! Imagine…she thinks the bank accounts of the wealthy are hers to grab at will. She insists she needs that money to “pay for” unemployment benefits (essentially paying people to stay out of work and off her back). It makes more sense to me to let that money work to create jobs for the unemployedreate a larger and growing tax base. It has worked every single time it’s been tried.
What would happen if we actually let this money work in the private sector instead of the money pit of the US government? JOBS and INCREASED REVENUE would happen!
When debt is piled up the offender MUST STOP SPENDING. If they are going to cut “$900 million in fossil fuel research funds” why not also cut subsidies to alternative fuel reaserch and development. In fact what if they just cut all government subsidies? And why not cut all department budgets by 10%? (Real cuts too not just cuts in the amount of increase!!!)
Also, I’d like to see the amount of time these turkeys spend in DC cut as well.
VERY few cuts to defense–mostly embroidery–nothing fundamental.
It’s easy to rail against special interests. Not so easy to rail against the biggest special interest of them all.
Q: “VERY few cuts to defense–mostly embroidery…”
Let’s see…nothing else in the budget cut proposal is cut by more than 10% and yet military procurement is to be reduced by 15% while the country is at war!
You do know that procurement is about future spending on everything from shoe laces to fighter jets, right?
“Not so easy to rail against the biggest special interest of them all.
This “special interest” just happens to be an across the board “special interst”…the defense of the entire nation and all who dwell within!!!
Referring to our military as a special interest group is ridiculous!!!
Naked soldiers without the weapons to defend themselves just doesn’t make much sense to me. I’d be very interested in knowing to what degree and by what means you would cut the military budget!
As to the Obama Commission spending cuts, none of them are all that heinous. I’ve never seen the sense in that homeowner interest tax deduction. Why should people with a mortgage not pay taxes like everybody else? It was always nonsense.
Social security is so you don’t die five years early of starvation. It is NOT for supplementing your pension so’s you can be jaunting off to Italy once a year (my father, the retired school teacher … yes … and it’s got to stop.) And he voted for Ronald and both Bushes, knew upon which side his bread was buttered, yes, he did! Jack? You cash that check?
I’m all for all of the cuts.
Let’s see if any of these newly elected Rebugs vote for any of them.
I support all of the recommended cuts except:
Establish co-pays in the VA medical system and change the co-pays and deductibles for military retirees that remain in that system.
Ill give up more of something I might benefit from before Id ask a soldier to pay for their own injuries or the medical needs of the families.
A public employee in the military after six years earns below $20k a year while a public employee in congress earns over $174k a year with full health benefits and private retirement pension.
Offset the cost for our vets by reducing congress pay to be equal to the military salaries based on years of service. And require ALL public employees to utilize the same health care providers and hospitals.
Id love to see the members of congress receiving the same pay and benefits as the members of our military since they are both public employees. One serves his country by losing a leg, while the other uses his service 30 years ago to justify his being found guilty of ethic charges.
Excellent ideas Peggy, you are one smart cookie!!!! How about running for office?
Libby: “‘Referring to our military as a special interest group is ridiculous!!!’ ** Why? If nurses and teacher are, I don’t see why defense contractors shouldn’t be.”
The Constitution requires we have a military, our military serves all Americans, the only thing special about it is that they do serve everyone equally.
We have an obligation to fund our military. This in turn requires procurement from the private sector…unless you really want to create a fascist state, spend a bundle, and end up with an inferior military?
Besides, the military has been downsizing for some time according to the Heritage Foundation:
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/06/a-constitutional-basis-for-defense
The military has been cut as other programs grow bigger. The proposed cuts include cutting contractor positions by 20%, procurement by 15%, as well as other cuts. And the Q man says it’s just “embroidery”! You’re both nuts!
“Social security is so you don’t die five years early of starvation. It is NOT for supplementing your pension so’s you can be jaunting off to Italy once a year…”
I agree accept for a few things that I think should be considered. It was sold and distributed for the last sixtty or so years as a retirement plan…an investment (not insurance) that would bring a future return upon retirement. Additionally, not all citizens have had to participate, creating an even greater burden on those who have. Also, our generation has born the burden of paying through the nose, compared to what our parents invested, for their retirement. The cost has been fairly steep, much greater than anticipated because of our prosperity (nutrition) and excellent health care! The little rascals lived a good long time.
The original promises of Social Security were that participation in the program would be voluntary and that participants would only pay 1% of the first $1400.00 of annual income! Now we pay 7.65% on the first $90,000 (with proposals to end the cap)
Social Security must be revised and eventually eliminated for a more citizen friendly plan but there are plenty of people (not millionaires) who deserve to recieve at least some of what they invested in this government (democrat) sponsored ponzi scheme.
Its time to pay the piper or reaper, depending on how bad your individual situation is. Unemployment just hit 9.8% and it will be years before it will cut in half. The debt commissions proposal didnt pass its own committee and the current congress is wasting time passing bills to designate the month of October to recognize families instead of dealing with our nations budget and what taxes we will be paying in just over 20 days.
I hope everyone saw Harry Reid spend precious time talking about the University of Renos football team beat Boise State and see what the future of our senate will be for the next two years. We are in a crisis situation with our nation and as individuals, and Reid is either brain dead or playing out a very subversive plan. Cant decide right now which.
Jack/Tina, thanks but I’m happy just being Nana. Both of you should run. Got my vote!
“I support all of the recommended cuts except:
Establish co-pays in the VA medical system and change the co-pays and deductibles for military retirees that remain in that system.
Why? Because you are married to a “military retiree”?
All the cuts hurt … and hurt people who can least deal with it (except, of course the one percent … you silly “fill-it-in-yerself”).
But if you won’t consent to go after the one percent, you must, and will, take it in the shorts … and no snivelling.
Have we all noticed the back-patting … and the complete, total, and entire unwillingness to address our complicity in this “entitlement” culture?
Oh, yes … we have.
Peggy, Lord knows we need some good Nanas to help raise the next generation of patriots so good for you! Since you decline to run for office, however, I do hope, and I’m certain Jack agrees, that you continue to post here on Post Scripts. Every voice matters.
Libby…I have a feeling you will see a lot of ideas from the Republicans when they take the helm…the real question is, how many Dems will go long and will Obama sign the legislation. We’ll see.
“Peggy, Lord knows we need some good Nanas ….”
Yet more back patting? Are we going to come clean? Is Peggy Nannying on the government’s … the taxpayer’s … nickel?
If she is, she should own up, and pony up, … and QUIT SNIVELLING!
Damned, you people do annoy me!
C’mon Libs. When you were little did your report card say, “Plays well with others… (X) needs to improve” ?
Oh oh…the mean girl is back. I liked you better when you were funny. Now you just come off as an old, tired (fill in the blank yerself!)