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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
The way to fix Social Security is to remove the limitation on how much the payroll taxes that finance. If you remove that funding limit, Social Security will pay %100 of its benefits for the next 75 years.
Even with that limitation, Social Security remains fully funded over the next two decades and will pay 75% of its benefits. You don't have to cut it. All you need is to pass a bill that legally removes that limitation.
Thankfully, Obama seems to have taken SS off the table this time around.
edited 5th Dec '12 3:26:49 PM by Serocco
In RWBY, every girl is Best Girl.@Deviant
Actually, it sounds like a stagflation bomb than an austerity bomb.
So if I get this straight, the options are as follows:
1) Raise the debt ceiling.
2) Keep the debt ceiling, and not reach an agreement, letting certain spending cuts and tax raises trigger automatically across, to maintain the debt ceiling.
3) Keep the debt ceiling and agree to a plan that balances things relative to the budget. This includes:
- Proposal by Democrats that includes tax raise/end of previous tax cuts for the upper class, and use that tax rate for revenue gain. I also remember that they want to keep the tax cuts for middle class; don't remember what they want with the spending.
- Republican proposal that opposes tax raise for upper class but is willing to close tax loopholes. Probably includes some spending reduction, but the Republican offers have been shifting around, ranging from extending middle class tax cuts to reducing military budget.
- This Grand Bargain, which is similar to automatic budget balancing but modified by the current bargainers to target selected things.
...that's what has happened in Britain. Right now, the Government is chasing down Tax Avoiders, including Multinational Corporations (like Google, Amazon and Starbucks) and probably Sports Teams, soon.
The money goes on paying back the Debt, not on Government.
edited 5th Dec '12 3:50:45 PM by Greenmantle
Keep Rolling OnMore blasphemy! Dammit, we need an Inquisition once and for all.
Dude, if the US went got rid of all the goddamn tax shelters and actually made Big Business pay their share, we'd make the Nordic model look like a bad Monopoly game.
Christ, it's so nauseating what we've let greed do.
edited 5th Dec '12 3:53:13 PM by TheStarshipMaxima
It was an honorAusterity doesn't work in the least. Cutting government spending to social programs stops the economy, welfare especially. Welfare is basically the government funnelling money right back into the economy. Welfare money gets used, it doesn't sit around waiting in someone's coffers. It goes to work. It fuels businesses. It pays salaries. It makes more money for the government in the form of taxes on the economic growth that it fuels.
What we need is to invest in our own economy from the bottom up where it actually gets spent.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick@Green: That's essentially what letting the fiscal cliff take its course would do.
And it's been mentioned before several times already, but just because we go off the cliff doesn't mean that the economy will implode immediately come January first. There's still a significant window of time in which actions can be taken to prevent the damage. And as others have said ad naseum at this point, it would be rather difficult for Republicans to vote against restoring the pre-cliff tax cuts for the middle class without getting screwed in 2014. I'd rather have Congress just be reasonable for once so this doesn't have to happen, but that's a pipe dream at this point.
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Well it's naive to imply that there isn't any wasteful spending happening in entitlement programs.
Austerity is good when it cuts the fat off the bone. Austerity is bad when it cuts through the bone.
edited 5th Dec '12 4:03:04 PM by DeviantBraeburn
Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016I'm actually saying spend more on welfare in order to get back more taxes which drives down the deficit and thus national debt. The fat here really doesn't matter. We get back in taxes everything we spend on welfare and then some. It creates jobs and it provides sales taxes. Don't worry about catching fraud. That's a waste of money. The important thing here is just to inject money back into the economy in order to get it back out.
edited 5th Dec '12 4:08:07 PM by shimaspawn
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. DickBaehner said that, if the Democrats reform the filibuster, Republicans will block every bill.
He said "Any bill that requires a Republican-led House based on the Democrats' 'heavy-handed' power play would be dead on arrival".
edited 5th Dec '12 4:09:37 PM by Serocco
In RWBY, every girl is Best Girl.But see, while spending more may help economy in long term, you're still having more deficit spending added. Which means you need even more tax increases or a debt increase. That's analogous to Republicans wanting to drive economy by lowering taxes; it won't happen if the other side doesn't buy it.
It doesn't look like it's an option right now.

From what I've been hearing the Grand Bargain would as well.
Something about it being an austerity bomb.
Raise taxes
edited 5th Dec '12 3:22:43 PM by DeviantBraeburn
Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016