I grow very tired of the partisan mud slinging and posturing going on in Washington D.C. Even though I am a "liberal", I believe both parties share equal blame for this debt.
Tackling the budget is politically sensitive, but especially during an election year. Each party is putting forward ideas that serve only their narrow political interests. Politicians, lobbyists, and interest groups do what is in their best interest, even if it is bad for the country.
I don't claim to have all the answers, but these are some ideas I have for balancing the budget and avoiding the political pot holes involved in the process.
1. Separate tax revenue by source. Gasoline taxes, corporate taxes, income taxes, import taxes, cigarette taxes, etc.
2. Divert gasoline tax revenue to infrastructure improvement, building highways, and developing clean energy technology.
3. Divert cigarette taxes to health care, spending the money to offset the health damages caused by smoking.
4. Divert corporate taxes to paying down the national debt, placing Social Security and Medicare first in line to be replenished.
5. Take the remaining tax revenue, and set that amount as the federal budget for ongoing operations. Determine what percent would need to be cut to fit the government into this budget, and cut EVERYTHING EQUALLY. Nothing should be "sacred", not welfare, and certainly not military spending.
Let me explain a bit of my reasoning behind each of these ideas.
1, 2, 3: Separate taxes by revenue source. I have always thought it odd that gasoline taxes and cigarette taxes should go into the general fund. Afterall, we're paying these taxes to support / improve transportation infrastructure, and to offset some of the health costs of smoking. It is astonishing to me that these funds are not being used for those purposes.
4. Divert corporate taxes to servicing debt: I personally believe that corporate interests have been the main drivers of increased public debt. Corporate interests have been the root of most military interventions in U.S. history. I also think that corporations control the "job market", and are able to set "prevailing wages" low enough to keep employees on welfare, while providing obscene executive compensation and issuing huge dividends to investors. Corporations have managed to gain the status of "legal persons", so why not let them take responsibility for their actions as "legal persons".
5. Take what is left and shrink government to fit: I firmly believe that government should be as small and efficient as possible. As the old saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. If the federal bureaucracy is handed a slimmed budget that necessitates invention and innovation, I am certain they will find ways to work more effectively within the new budget. What bothers me about the current debate is that military spending seems to be "untouchable", while things like child healthcare and school lunches for poor children are touchable. You won't hear any complaint from me if military spending is cut equally to the other programs. But to leave that massive expense intact, and gut spending on Americans is unconscionable to me.
The social security and medicare laws would have to be changed to allow investment of those funds in non-treasury securities with lattered maturity dates. With a conservative mix of investments, and ensuring adequate "cash on hand" to handle economic shocks, the Social Security fund should remain solvent forever. Excess revenue from this fund could be accumulated and used to fund economic stimulus when it becomes necessary.
That's my humble opinion anyway...
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