#82 The Budget (for Dummies)

With the debt deadline and Congress' vacation time coming soon, our government has its hands tied.  Not tied to the work it is supposed to be doing but tied to time.  They have a plan, several of them, but no one wants to compromise.  Since when is compromise a dirty word?  Since political parties became promise makers instead of promise keepers.  The answer to this whole situation is easy.  Compromise.  They have two plans for now, just meet each other in between.  But just in case they can't figure that out here are some simple steps they should be taking to help the budget.

Step 1-  Balance it (and then improve it)

• Make an amendment to the Constitution.  Sounds easy enough.  Make the spending that one does equal to the amount of what one brings in as income.  If you can't afford something, don't buy it.  If it is not needed, don't buy it. 
• Even better than balancing the budget though;  get a surplus.  But not one that is short-termed that only relies on government subsidies, summer jobs, vice taxes, or erasing some of the bills that are on the ledger (which has been done in the past), but a real surplus.  And maintain it!

Step 2-  Make cuts

• Where?  All across the board.  If the item is no longer needed then why pay for it?  If you have a car that just sits on four blocks in your driveway, without tires being available, why have it?  You pay insurance on it.  It sits and rusts.  It depreciates.  Get rid of it.  If there is something that the US no longer needs, then get rid of it.  If it is needed but it is expensive, then try for a more efficient model.
• Education, police protection, fire protection, military, hospitals, and some other things are quite necessary but have not been managed well.  There can be cut backs in these fields without cutting quality like getting rid of higher paid management that is failing in their job.  Stop the double dipping.  Closing installations that are not productive or needed can be another cut.  Such as, schools that do not have a certain number of students but still need a certain amount of classes to get a full education can be consolidated with other schools.  Military bases in places like Germany are no longer needed.  These should not be cut as much as everything else though.
• Taking an equal amount from everything else across the board (but higher than the ones already listed)  means all would be fair to all items on the budget.  Some things no one wants to cut.   And it would be difficult. But we didn't get here in debt so easily.   It will take hard sacrifice to get back like they did in the 1950's after the Great Depression.  Yes, even Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security.  People have to know that creating your own savings accounts and taking your own responsibility is needed.  You can't rely on everyone else for everything.
• Stop giving money to "allies", especially if they are inconsistent. The heck with Pakistan. Stop making China the most favored nation in trade. Canada and Mexico should be our best of trading partners. No more free trade with countries that are not keeping it as fair as we are, like Japan did with cars in the 1990's.  Get us out of the UN so we are no longer bound by their rules or dues.
• No more pork barreling which is wasted money.   Make lobbying illegal.
• Stop borrowing money.  Why is it that we are borrowing from a country that doesn't even believe in capitalistic ideas anyway?
• Get an exit plan for the war(s).  Start turning the responsibility over to those who we fought for.
• Stop raising the debt ceiling.  Raising it just gives you more room for excuses to keep spending money you don't have.

Step 3-  Create revenue

• Not so much by raising taxes, although a little is not going to hurt us.  If we raise taxes by 1%, we will start to feel the squeeze of the serpent (Don't tread on me).  But a measly 0.1% will not be felt so much.  And with 150 million in the work force, that still could add up some revenue. 
• Close all of the loopholes in the tax codes.  Revise the codes completely.  Having a flat, fair tax will pay for a lot of things.  And no one can complain about it.  The liberals can't say that only the top 1% gets all the breaks and the conservatives can't say that those living off of welfare get a free lunch.
• Stop importing more than you export.  If an American company goes to China to build a sweatshop, stop importing their product.  If an American wants to travel to China to get it, fine.  There are things like duty taxes when they return.  If they don't want to support Americvan business then they should pay.  A free market does not mean we have to allow it into our country.  It only means our people have the right to create products and buy products on their own.  If they want to buy it by mail order, then you can raise the taxes on that method of payment like the USPS does.  If they buy it over the Internet, then make them claim it on their taxes.

Step 4- Make Congress accountable

• Wait a minute.  Oh yes, they are accountable for it.  Then make them pay for it.
• Congress says that if they can't get the debt situation controlled by August 2 then social security checks won't go out.  Our military won't get paid.  Well, one thing they should do if they can't compromise is don't pay their own paychecks.  That should also be an amendment.  If the budget can not be balanced, then the first paycheck to be cut is Congress'.  That will make them compromise and work faster.

Note:  this post might change with new ideas