If you are a long time member of Congress, viewing the world through the prism of Washington, D.C., the answer is probably NO.
Should we raise the "debt ceiling?" Absolutely not! No more borrowing! The reality is the money has already been committed, spent and put on the charge card. We're just waiting for the bill to come in the mail.
Must we cut government spending? Absolutely yes! Big budget cuts! The reality is no congress has reduced real spending since the end of WWII.
Do we need a "balanced budget amendment" to the constitution? Absolutely yes! The reality is it must pass the House and Senate by a 2/3 majority and then be ratified by 3 8 states. There has been one amendment adopted in the last 30 years and it took 9 years to be ratified by the required number of states.
The. increased debt is real and happening now. The budget cuts will be a promise spread over the next 10 years and do not have to be honored by a future congress.
The CBO projects government spending to increase 56.5% over the next 10 years for total spending of $45.8 trillion. Congress would make us think the world is coming to an end by reducing that to a 54.0% increase, $2 trillion cut.
Stimulus plans and more discretionary spending increased government spending by 9.3% in 2008 and 17.9% in 2009. These extraordinary high increases are then built into the base for increasing the next 10 year budget projection. This is called "baseline budgeting;" spend more to get more. Every government entity does it.
Congress and Obama should stop talking about big deals and 10 year plans. They should do something real and meaningful. Fiscal year 2012 starts October 1, less than 2 months from now and no budget has yet been passed. In fact, congress and Obama have not passed any budget in the past 800+ days.
If the next budget is reduced to 2010 spending levels, which is more than a reasonable amount after the excessive 2008-09 increases, the 2012 budget decreases by $200 billion. The new 10 year projection would then be reduced by $2.3 trillion.
This simplistic approach is what congress would make us believe takes all their energy, brinksmanship and political skills, working around the clock to save us and our country from total financial ruin.
A 5th grader would have had it done a long time ago.
Fix the 2012 budget and then start working on cutting the 2013 budget. That would be a real accomplishment
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