It appears that president Obama is making plans to attack our budget deficit tomorrow by $1.1 trillion (see here). Some of this will come from education as well as limiting tax breaks for the rich like we talked about in class on Tuesday. However, it does little with the major issues leading to debt in the long run (Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security).
Will these efforts be a significant improvement and begin action towards cutting our nations debt, or are we still beating around the bush and attacking the wrong issues?
Although the $1.1 trillion that president Obama is targeting may sound like a lot of money, I do not think that it will show to be a significant move in the right direction. I think this because as we have seen time and time again, it's the medicare, medicaid, and social security programs that are cuasing the most probelms in terms of our budget deficit. I do however think that these cuts were a good second choice (altough I'm not too sure about some of the education choices Obama is after), since it seems like nobody has found a solution to the medicare, medicaid, and social security problems.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a good starting point for the U.S. Obviously as Jeff and Matt have already pointed out, Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security are some of the major programs increasing our debt. However, to say that cutting $1.1 trillion isn't helping any doesn't seem right to me.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if anyone in the class watches the show "American Pickers" on the History channel or not, but the show is about two pickers who go around buying people's old stuff and then re-selling it. On the show, they always talk about the first deal they make as breaking the ice. They may buy something they don't really want that much, but once they have the other person selling their stuff, they are in a better position to go in and buy what they actually want.
Maybe that isn't the best analogy, but I think it's fitting.
Dave, that's the perfect analogy. Obama is courting the country in terms of budget cuts and reforms.
ReplyDeleteI want to see more restructing and cutting of defense and transfer payment programs. But I think a little more wining and dining is needed first.
Its like watching children fight over who has better toys. Someone is always pouting because they didnt get their way. While this budget doesnt address the entirety of the problem, its a start. It took a long time to get into this mess, and I dont think that it is remotely reasonable to expect it to be dealt with in one fiscal budget.
ReplyDelete