Can YOU fix the budget? Find out here.

Here's a neat little exercise courtesy of the New York Times that lets you try your hand at fixing the budget problems. It allows you to choose from various budget cutting or tax raising options in order to bring the enormously bloated Federal budget under control.

Budget Puzzle: You Fix the Budget

Today, you’re in charge of the nation’s finances. Some of your options have more short-term savings and some have more long-term savings. When you have closed the budget gaps for both 2015 and 2030, you are done. Make your own plan, then share it online.

Here's my solution to the budget mess based upon the parameters they allowed in the exercise:

My solution to The Budget Puzzle


I thought that many of the choices didn't go far enough but I had to work within the parameters of the exercise. If it was up to me, I would have pulled our troops out of all the stupid wars and foreign bases and cut back the military to only what was necessary to defend America from attack. The biggest earmark in the American budget is EMPIRE and if we were to bring our troops home and stop trying to police the whole dang world, that in itself could probably solve the whole budget nightmare.

That and killing Obamacare, of course. Which BTW isn't one of the cost cutting options offered by the exercise.


You can reset it and try it yourself by clicking : Clear choices and start over.

You solved the deficit!
Share Your Plan on Twitter or share this link: www.nytimes.com...
« Clear Choices and Start Over

If you try it, post a link to your solution here.

If you're brave enough to put up with the ridicule that is...

That's pretty cool. I'm sure the devil is in the details though, but damn, some of those figures are staggering.
Just a minor nudge here and there makes a huge difference. Here's my solution:

www.nytimes.com...

reply to post by peter_kandra


Its amazing the HUGE difference a few small cuts in entitlement spending makes in that exercise. I think you could solve the whole budget problem.

Just by cutting entitlement spending, I was able to eliminate about 80% of the long-term deficit and 1/3 of the short term deficit.

I'd still like to see the difference eliminating ObamaCare would make.

alot of difficult choices. I think my plan is pretty good. The rich won't be too happy about it. I see it like this, rich people are rich by standing on the backs of the poor and middle classes. That won't be possible if you pound the poor and middle into the ground. The rich should take the hit now to come out on top later.


www.nytimes.com...

reply to post by FortAnthem


429 billion, 1,602 billion, 9% savings from tax increases, 91% savings from spending cuts
my budget fix outcome

cut foreign aid in half
eliminate earmarks
Cut pay of civilian federal workers by 5 percent
Reduce the federal workforce by 10 percent
Cut 250,000 government contractors
Reduce nuclear arsenal and space spending
Reduce military to pre-Iraq War size and further reduce troops in Asia and Europe
Reduce Navy and Air Force fleets
Cancel or delay some weapons programs
Reduce noncombat military compensation and overhead
Reduce the number of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to 30,000 by 2013
Increase the Medicare eligibility age to 70
Reduce the tax break for employer-provided health insurance
Cap Medicare growth starting in 2013
Raise the Social Security retirement age to 70
Bank Tax

Originally posted by FortAnthem
reply to post by peter_kandra

 

Its amazing the HUGE difference a few small cuts in entitlement spending makes in that exercise. I think you could solve the whole budget problem.

Just by cutting entitlement spending, I was able to eliminate about 80% of the long-term deficit and 1/3 of the short term deficit.

I'd still like to see the difference eliminating ObamaCare would make.

edit on 12/1/10 by FortAnthem because: Stand still damn you!

_____________________

You just have to hope that they wouldn't take the savings from one entitlement program and use it to fund another!
I used to live in NJ, and the talk radio station NJ 101.5 and several of the hosts used to always rant on about how those programs were just unsustainable and would suck the life out of any economy.

reply to post by FortAnthem


I agree with most of your choices. I would like to see a few more options, though. Terminating our arrangement with the Federal Reserve Bank ould be a great first step. The option to totally eliminate spending in some areas, like foreign aid, would be nice.

reply to post by peter_kandra


Yep, any time the govt saves a buck somewhere, they think that gives them permission to spend two buck on something else just as stupid.

Look what happened when the Republican tax cuts resulted in increased tax revenues; they went on a spending spree that would even make the Democrat's heads spin. THAT's the reason they lost power. That and their stupid wars.

They talk about fiscal responsibility all the time but, when they got into power, they showed that they were just like any other politician out there; spend and then spend some more, who cares, its not like its their own money.


reply to post by VictorVonDoom


Yeah, its a shame they don't offer more options like completely pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan or eliminating the Dept of Education or NEA and other crap agencies of the government.

I guess they were trying to stick to propositions that are currently floating out there in mainstream circles and have at least a snowball's chance of passing.

The best way to get control of the budget would be to eliminate everything that's not specifically authorized by the Constitution but, we know that would never happen.

I actually went back to change some of my choices because I had such an enormous surplus. I've got to say, just capping Medicare seemed to have the most impact. Capping at GDP +1% seems perfectly reasonable to me.

www.nytimes.com...

www.nytimes.com... eekinreview/deficits-graphic.html?choices=zxx4g4q9

There needs to be more options.

Another thing is a large chunk of the American economy is dependent on government spending.

While I would like to see cuts to just about anything (except for space weapons and the nuclear arsenal due to the deterrent factor) I know this would cause a serious rearrangement of the American economy and a lot of unhappy constituents should I be a politician.

Yea cutting the pay of federal workers would be nice but those union thugs are powerful.

reply to post by FortAnthem


....So even if you "solve the budget" there's still a huge deficit?

Idiots at the NYtimes lol..

I can easily fix it.

Stop Overseas aid and Development Assistance payouts to other countries.


For Foreign Economic and Military Aid, you can see how much we give, to who and why here in these excel sheets.
www.census.gov...


If I'm reading this correctly, we gave in 2007, 83 Billion in aid, and 35 Billion in grants and credits. I'm not sure of the 09 and 2010 numbers.

www.nytimes.com...
That was fun! Bank Tax FTW! How do we not have that now????

I didn't like it. It was too limiting.

other things to cut.

1-Top heavy school administration cut it.
2-Social aid for children of illegal aliens (Take the children from the parents and let citizens adopt them or let the parents take their kids with them)
3- Disband Government unions. Fine they can unionize if I have a choice not to buy their product but I don't so they can't.

Oh heck just declaire bankruptcy and re-vote on what we as taxpayers actually 'need' and are willing to pay for.

This thing doesn't give you real options. I think we need a major overhaul.

1.) cut the government in 1/2
2.) cap public income to the average private income
3.) add taxes for exempt organizations

If you look at the great depression in 1920 they cut the government in 1/2 . That's probably why you've never heard of that depression. It was over a year after that cut.

This nation has gone insane.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
reply to post by FortAnthem

 

....So even if you "solve the budget" there's still a huge deficit?

Idiots at the NYtimes lol..

Its government accounting, its not supposed to make sense.

Put the word "government" in front of anything and expect to get nonsense as a result.