Ease the burden on taxpayers with a smaller government
Balance the budget to avoid long-term financial disaster
Address public problems too long deferred
The public knows how to spend its money better than the government does. Its the hard work and productivity of the average American that creates jobs, drives innovation, and builds wealth. By contrast, the federal government takes on far too much and mostly produces red tape. So its only right that average Americans keep as much of their wealth as possible. High taxes slow the economy and keep people from getting ahead, so the government should keep the necessary evil of taxes as low as possible. In the future, the federal government should be smaller, only taking on the tasks no one else in society is suited to do. In the meantime, we may run deficits occasionally, but a deficit is preferable to a tax increase particularly when the economy needs a boost.
The federal budget is on a course for disaster and our first priority should be to turn it around. By allowing the government to run a deficit, we run the risk of harming the economy and burdening our children with the debts we were unwilling to pay. The federal government has to stop living beyond its means and giving out tax cuts like party favors. Unless we act now, senior entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare will end up both breaking the budget and failing to serve the elderly when the baby boomers retire en masse. The critical task is balancing the budget and reforming the entitlement programs. Anything less means failing in our obligations to both our children and the elderly.
You get what you pay for and taxes are an investment we make as a society for the public services we need. What good is it to have a balanced budget or lower taxes if our schools are falling apart, our homeland security is poor, or sick people cant afford to get treatment? The question isn't what the government spends; its what you want the government to do. For decades the deficit has been an excuse to avoid pressing public needs, even though the deficit never seemed to cause any tangible harm. After all, the country prospered during this period. Besides, deficits have their uses, particularly when it comes to stimulating the economy. Its time to address some of these long-delayed problems in education, health care, counter-terrorism, child care and other areas. If the government needs more money, it should tax the wealthy and cut back on corporate tax breaks.
Ease the burden on taxpayers with a smaller government
Balance the budget to avoid long-term financial disaster
Address public problems too long deferred
What should be done?
Keep taxes as low as possible, particularly taxes on income and investments that spur the economy. Turn over more public functions, such as social services, to the private sector, which can provide them at lower cost. Give more domestic policy responsibilities to the states, which are closer to the people. Focus the federal government on the tasks only it can perform, like national security. Retool senior entitlements to allow people to invest their Social Security money in stocks and reduce the overall cost of the system in the long run.
Return to the pay as you go budget policies that helped us eliminate the last deficit. Don't create any new federal programs unless they are balanced with spending cuts or new taxes. Allow the tax cuts passed over the last three years to expire as planned. Raise the retirement age and adjust benefits to keep Social Security solvent. Eliminate Social Security payments for wealthy retirees. Increase Medicare premiums and encourage recipients to use HMOs to control costs. If we return to a budget surplus, use the money to either pay off the federal debt or bail out Social Security and Medicare.
Let the estate tax and other tax cuts passed over the last three years expire as planned. The government should rely on taxes aimed at higher-income Americans and end tax breaks that only benefit big business. Expand spending on critical needs like education, health care and homeland security. Keep the promises we've made to the elderly and maintain Social Security benefits. Establish additional tax credits and deductions for higher education, child care and home ownership to help the middle class and lower-income Americans get ahead.
Arguments For This Approach
The real cause of the budget deficit is the federal governments habit of overreaching itself. The public can spend its money more effectively than the government ever could. Tax cuts actually help close the budget gap by spurring the economy and bringing in more tax revenue. The federal government should focus on truly national concerns, like defense and international relations. State and local governments are closer to the people they serve, and often are better suited to provide public services. Just because we can afford to do something doesn't mean we should. Government programs should be held to tough standards of necessity and accountability whether the overall budget is in balance or not.
Our current course of running up deficits is irresponsible were just passing off problems onto our own children because were unwilling to make tough decisions. The tax cuts were meant as a short-term measure to boost the economy. Making them permanent would throw the budget out of balance for years. Now is the best time to reform the senior entitlement programs, while the baby boomers are still in the workforce and the number of seniors covered is relatively small. It's better to give senior citizens more limited benefits than to allow the Social Security and Medicare systems to collapse entirely. And shifting to a stock-investment system will cost more in the short term.
We cant go on ignoring the problems in our public schools and the fact that too many Americans don't have health care. In the long run, an ill-educated, unhealthy population will be more of a disaster than any deficit. Its better to raise taxes on upper-income people who can afford it than to put the burden on poor and middle-class people. Besides, tax rates are lower than they've been for decades. Sept. 11 showed that we need to beef up our domestic security to protect ourselves from international terrorism. The current deficit is a relatively small percentage of the total economy and probably won't cause any harm. Besides, the U.S.has had a deficit more often than not during the past three decades and we've managed to prosper anyway.
Arguments Against This Approach
We have a huge deficit, which can do serious damage to the economy, canceling out any benefit from tax cuts. We have to balance the budget and not pass this problem on to our grandchildren. You get what you pay for, and taxes are the investment society makes for the services we need, ranging from public schools to the justice system. If anything, programs like education and health care have been cut too much already. U.S. tax rates are already lower than they were a few decades ago and lower than in most other industrial nations. This ignores the approaching crisis in Social Security and Medicare. If we don't solve these problems now, we may break the budget and our promise to the elderly later. And, allowing people to invest Social Security funds may cost money in the short term.
Deficits have their uses. After all,the country prospered during 30 years of nearly constant deficits, and the current deficit may have even helped spur the economy. We have a deficit because of the war on terrorism and the poor economy things that can't be helped. We need to keep taxes low to stimulate the economy and create jobs. Besides, its always better for taxpayers to keep their own money. We promised Social Security and Medicare to the elderly. We shouldn't balance the budget on the backs of senior citizens.
The government can't keep spending money it doesn't have at least not forever. Deficits rob from our grandchildren, forcing them to pay for our wasteful habits. Its foolish to spend money now and ignore long-term, budget busting problems with Social Security and Medicare. If we don't solve these problems, in a few decades the government won't have the money to deal with anything else. Tax increases hamper growth. It's much better to let the people keep and invest their own money, which is what really drives the economy. Large, persistent deficits hurt the economy by driving up interest rates and slowing economic growth.
