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Keep paying on the debt to not screw our credit rating.
Reduce payments to all the other areas, if possible.
Salaries of all federally paid people
From the President down to a private in the army
That won't work, because even if the US continues to pay its creditors they'll obviously notice that we are failing to make good on our obligations. Just like your mortgage interest rate will go up if you stop paying your credit card bill...even if you continue to pay your mortgage on time.
What do you mean "if possible"? What is the alternative?
I am not familiar with what everything the we the tax payers are forced to spend money on but there is a lot of junk the federal government should cut. Foreign aid, Cultural preservation in other countries(building and fixing mosques,churches, temples and other buildings), Grants for all sorts of useless studies, agricultural subsidies and overlapping agencies just to name a few that should be cut. Sure some of this stuff may be chump change but it adds up after while and if the government is wasting money on crap like this then more likely is it wasting money on more crap. We could cut NASA, thats 18 billion right there it would save us each year. There are all sorts of things the government can reduce or cut spending on.
jamesrage said:We could raise the social security retirement age a lot higher, that could save some money.
This is just he crap we know the government is wasting tax payer dollars on. More than likely there is more waste and excessive spending.NASA: $18.7 billion
Foreign aid (military and economic aid alike): $55.2 billion
Federal funding for tertiary education (useless studies or otherwise): $0.8 billion
Federal funding of agriculture (in total, whether it's somthing we'd recognize as a "subsidy" or not): $25.1 billion
Cultural preservation in other countries: Not even a rounding error on the federal budget.
In total, you've saved $99.8 billion per year...or roughly 2.6% of the budget. You have 30.7% more to cut, if we don't raise the debt ceiling by the end of the month. Keep going.
I don't disagree...but are you suggesting we raise it a lot higher within the next month, effective immediately?
This is just he crap we know the government is wasting tax payer dollars on. More than likely there is more waste and excessive spending.
Consolidation of overlapping government agencies could save taxpayers 200 billion in ten years which is 20 billion a year.Government overlap costs taxpayers billions, GAO reports
We could also remove marijuana from the list of drugs that the war on drugs is spent on. This would save some money from not having to incarcerate pot heads and pot dealers or the enforcement of laws against pot.
Long term spending is just as important as short term spending.
I don't disagree...but are you suggesting we raise it a lot higher within the next month, effective immediately?
Medicare/Medicaid: 18% of our budget
Defense: 16%
Social security: 16%
I'm curious if any of you who oppose raising the debt ceiling (or encourage political brinkmanship in the hopes that your side will win a great deal at the eleventh hour) have actually considered the consequences of a default.
If the debt ceiling is not raised, the government is not going to have enough money to meet its obligations. It needs approximately $318 billion just to pay its August bills. Additionally, the government has about $500 billion in debt that is coming due in August; if we are in default or de-facto default at the time, chances are at least some of that debt will not be rolled over and we'll have to come up with billions more.
So I'm curious as to which of our bills you think should not be paid. Should we literally default on our debt? Should we stop paying our soldiers? Should we suddenly cut retirees off from social security and Medicare? Should we shut down the entire federal government (including "essential" services) by ceasing payments on our discretionary budget? Or should we just print more money to cover all of these expenses?
My prediction: None of the people encouraging a default will have any legitimate answer, and they'll resent the entire premise of this question: that we need money to pay for things.
Oh, not at all. This has me chortling and rubbing my hands together. I'll take that job.
To start with...
1. Stop all foreign aid payments
2. Stop pay on all arts endowments.
3. Stop pay on all science endowments not related to national security
4. Shut down the BATFE, except for the NICS.
5. Close down the DEA and the Fed Ed Board.
6. Take a look at all those "duplicate agencies" assigned to the same problem... and shut all but one-per-category down.
7. Stop paying Bush's Senior Drug program.... it never was very good to start with.
8. Find all social programs that have produced zero results and shut them down.
.... then we can start cutting back on Welfare and Medicaide as necessary, starting with those who are NOT disabled....
Salaries of all federally paid people
From the President down to a private in the army
The retirement age should have been going up years ago. At the very lease the required age should be 70 by now. The programs should not be used as a way to retire earlier. They should be used to help support people when they can no longer work or can no longer care for themselves.
The qualifying retirement age should go up by at least 3 months every year until it reaches an acceptable level.
Politicians have been sitting on their hands for far too long. And it is high time that those close to qualifying for SS and Medicare accept that they need to make sacrifices. In my mind anyone who is against making changes to SS and Medicare wants to destroy the programs for future generations and/or wants to bankrupt our country.
People need to stop trying to tie the politicians hands and accept that we all need to make sacrifices!
Your numbers are totally off.. Medicare and Social security are funded by income tax and bonds.. They are not an expenditure persay.. There is a mechanism to automatically pay them..
Budget of the United States Government: Browse Fiscal Year 2012
The department of defense budget is $553 billion..
Social Security is $12.5 Billion.. This also includes the increase that Obama promised to cover the back log..
Medicare is not even listed for the above reason..
But if you want to say medicare is covered in the department of health and human services, their budget is only $79.9 billion..
A far cry from the $553 Billion that is defense.. You need to watch Fox news less and look up facts more!!
Why is that unless you have an adjustable and anyone with an adjustable is too stupid to live.That won't work, because even if the US continues to pay its creditors they'll obviously notice that we are failing to make good on our obligations. Just like your mortgage interest rate will go up if you stop paying your credit card bill...even if you continue to pay your mortgage on time.
What do you mean "if possible"? What is the alternative?
You may not agree, but I'd also put a 20% across the board cut on the DoD and remove troops from Libya (NATO included) and Iraq - 100% of the troops, as well as close down in 2 years 20% of all foreign bases of operations in allied countries.
Oh, not at all. This has me chortling and rubbing my hands together. I'll take that job.
1. Stop all foreign aid payments
2. Stop pay on all arts endowments.
3. Stop pay on all science endowments not related to national security
4. Shut down the BATFE, except for the NICS.
5. Close down the DEA and the Fed Ed Board.
6. Take a look at all those "duplicate agencies" assigned to the same problem... and shut all but one-per-category down.
7. Stop paying Bush's Senior Drug program.... it never was very good to start with.
8. Find all social programs that have produced zero results and shut them down.
then we can start cutting back on Welfare and Medicaide as necessary, starting with those who are NOT disabled....
Oh, and here are some numbers. If the debt ceiling isn't raised, we'll have to suddenly eliminate approximately one-third (33%) of our spending. So please don't say anything retarded like "We'll just cut foreign aid, welfare, and pork-barrel spending. Problem solved."
Medicare/Medicaid: 18% of our budget
Defense: 16%
Social security: 16%
Debt payment: 5% (Although this will surely increase if we default or otherwise fail to meet our obligations, because our interest rates will increase and at least some of our debt will not be rolled over.)
Everything else: 45%
Same question to you: I don't disagree with any of this...but are you suggesting we raise the retirement age a lot higher within the next month, effective immediately? If not, it has no relevance to the subject at hand, which is the imminent debt ceiling debate and the enormous spending cuts that will result if it isn't raised by the end of the month.
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