10 Things We Could Do
To Fix the Budget
I don't belong to a party, so I'm not beholding to constituents or to pressure from lobbying groups. I believe that's what we need right now, someone with no affiliations who would use fairness and common sense. Some of these things have been suggested, but they always immediately get knocked down by the other side. I think you'll agree that this list crosses party lines because neither party has it ALL right.
1. Eliminate class warfare. Rally everyone to the cause to save America. Rich or poor, young and old. It would take a solid PR effort, but it could be done because everyone knows we're in trouble.
2. Simplify the tax code so that the rich don't have so many loopholes.
3. Raise taxes even just a little bit on EVERYBODY. The lowest salaries would be be taxed a half-cent on the dollar. A higher salary, one cent, and so on. This would add up and not really hurt even the lowest salaried people. But they could feel they've done their part.
4. Cut government spending - period! Some people/programs used to getting a certain amount won't get as much. It's just got to happen. I could do this because, again, I don't have to worry about getting re-elected.
5. Raise the minimum age for early and late retirements to save on Social Security costs. This is so obvious, I can't believe we're hedging. We live longer, people, and there will NOT be enough working people contributing to the fund when all baby boomers are in retirement age.
6. Give less Social Security money to people who don't need it because they're rich enough.
7. Require ALL public union members to contribute at least a LITTLE bit of their own money for their own retirements.
8. Cut back on the wars we're in by at least half.
They just aren't worth it.
9. Raise the age limit for Medicare (see No. 5).
10. End the Bush Tax cuts for the wealthiest. Who's wealthy? Let's pick $250,000; that's pretty wealthy.
Note: Not everyone will agree with all of this. Tough! It's impossible to make everyone happy when fixing the mammoth problem we have now. We need a leader who will say "tough!" as well because if we keep putting these things off, it will be unbelievably worse in a few years. I don't want that on my grandchildren. I want ALL of us to sacrifice a little for them.
It's too bad your photo is so small and tightly-cropped. It cuts off the lightning rod sticking up through the top of your cap.
ReplyDeleteYour suggestions are mostly reasonable and likely necessary. Therefore, both sides will dislike them. Maybe the key to settling this mess is to have something they can actually agree on..."We dislike Jim's suggestions." Good job, in that case.
You're right, too, Al. Sadly, I fear the two sides we have today have gotten too far apart to really solve our serious problems. Then, when we finally break, bust, burst or whatever best will describe it, both sides will just point fingers.
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