Proposed budget via NY times
 

what's funny is Obama is able to cut money by freezing budgets. I know he can't make a bed but surely he knows the difference between a knife and a freezer. No?

For Riot: Kind of like Michele O'B coming home with a new Benz and trying the "but I was going to buy a Bentley next year and every year after but for the next nine will settle for a benz so I saved you money" :D

Oh this is good. He's cutting energy assistance (I take it gas and electricity) but increasing funding for training math and science teachers, while cutting Pell grants?

This guy is no longer just 'way over his skis' he needs to be saved.

God Bless America we have a GOP congress! Never thought Obama would give me the sense of HOPE but he has.

The most useful thing about that chart, for people who don't understand much about government spending, is that it makes it visually clear that our largest areas of spending are Medicare/Medicaid, Defense, interest on the national debt and Social Security.

Social Security is required by law to be fully funded; it's illegal for it to borrow money, so it doesn't contribute to the deficit or debt and never has. The surplus it has run and invested in Treasury Bonds will keep it solvent for several more decades (regardless of what the media would like you to believe; Social Security is fine).

We don't have any choice about interest on the national debt.

Medicare and Medicaid are non-discretionary items.

What this means, is that all of these cuts in discretionary spending don't amount to a hill of beans. Any alleged budget hawk who talks a big game about cutting the deficit and does not discuss cutting the defense budget is not actually serious about cutting spending.

If you really want to slash the deficit, you need to slash defense.

Wouldn't getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan be a good start to defense cuts. We have no business there but this country is still there.

How does keeping SS Solvent for 2.5 more decades make it "fine".

IMO that makes it terrible.

seriously, 2037 is right around the damn corner. Unless you are old and only care about yourself and not the future, nobody has a reason to think it is fine.

According to "some" people, the government can just tweak it and make it alright. Tweak meaning raise the % rate or the amount on which people have to pay, increase the retirement age to 75 or 80. Yup, you younger generation has absolutely nothing to worry about. Just keep paying into the Ponzi scheme.:rolleyes:

you're right that any serious effort to reduce deficits includes cutting defense spending but dealing with entitlements and raising revenues (taxes) also has to happen.

the really illustrative point about any of the budget discussions here is how everyone is in favor of the general idea of cutting spending but when you get down to specifics they're againt those. energy assistance and pell grants? no way!

everyone wants to blame the president and congress for the deficit but the truth is we just don't want to pay for what we get. it's a dysfunctional process that neither party really wants to deal with because they know they'll get voted out the minute they try.

the deficit commission put forth a serious plan that would begin to address the structural deficit. No ones going to touch it because the democrats will torch any republican effort to address entitlements and republicans will burn any democratic effort to cut defense or raise taxes.

The obvious answer to compromise and do some of each just isn't possible in a poisoned partisan atmosphere. So we'll cut good programs in the 13% of the federal budget that's discretionary and ignore the 87% where the real problems lie.

You nailed it. This board is a microcosm of the problem. Everyone is fine with cutting anything that doesn't directly affect them and blame the other party for the hole we are in.

The one component of the budget that could be saved w/o cutting any programs is the interest on the debt $474.15 Billion for this year. If somehow Dems and Reps could come to agreement that this is where we can save and Reps agree to raise taxes (with the understanding all new Revenue pays down the debt) at the same time Dems agree to cut spending by an equal amount (and again use that money to pay down the debt) we are capable of saving almost $5 Trillion over the next decade. With Medicare/Medicade fraud rates estimated to be 10% there's another $110 Billion or $1.1 Trillion over 10 years saved if its rooted out. One thing that is very evident looking at the budget chart is we don't need a big Obamacare square to try and squeeze in.

Hey I think there should be fairly across the board cuts of 20%. Including defense.

Other than the roads I drive on, and the national parks I visit, and of course the military's protection, there isnt really anything I get back from the government (I'm already out of high school and paid my own college).. so I'm not worried... CUT the spending across the board!

None of that has to be done. No retirement age raises, no change in benefits.

If the cap is simply raised from the current $106,800 to about $200,000, SS is flush and readily funded for about 70 more years. If the cap is simply eliminated, SS has a surplus.

The Senate Democratic plan is to simply raise the cap. The Senate Republican plan is to take away benefits and raise the retirement age, as they don't want rich people paying more, so they will take from those least able to afford it (those making less than $106,800 per year)

"Out there" plans include means testing (so the rich don't get social security or as much, in spite of paying in) or privatizing it so Wall Street has control of your retirement fund.

Which should the country choose?

A good article on what doing different tweeks to SS will do in the long run:

Just curious what are your feeling about a proposal to raise the health insurance premiums on working class Retirees. Yet the Retirees wont get any type of raise and yet thier health premium might be going up. Im confident you are all for it and many others are for it.

Some is some reading reading for you:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT

What are you talking about? Private retirees or Medicare recipients?
Then don't bother to ask my opinion if you are sure you can read my mind. Buh bye.

Military retirees who are of the working class age. Did I say anything about Medicare DUH.

That's why I asked, because you didn't say anything about anything. DUH.

I'm not against charging more for their Insurance. Mine just doubled. No B.S. Doubled. I can't afford to keep paying for everyone else's sh1t I have another $500 oil bill this month. Wouldn't it be fair if you people living in the sunny south were gonna start kicking up for that? I want my Global Warming!

I guess it was hard for you to decipher what a working class retiree is?

I feel sorry for you about your rate doubling. Was there a legit reason given to you as to why it doubled?

Well, Nascar, a working class retiree is NOT most usually a veteran. MOST USUALLY they are on Medicare.

That's why I politely asked you what you meant.

You're an idiot. I give up. Talk to yourself.