It looks like the majority of Americans (+60%)are in agreement with me about the steps needed to balance the budget.
The first step would be to increase the top marginal tax rates
The second step would be to cut military spending.
I don't think either will happen anytime soon as the political will and courage by elected officials isn't there. It will take some sort of crises to occurr before these common sense solutions are implemented.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110103/pl_nm/us_usa_taxes_poll
The validity of the poll is questionable at best. But even if the results are accurate, it can be attributed to the fact that few Americans fully grasp the extent of our debt crisis. Even if we were to slash the entire defense budget (suicide, politically and literally), we'd be left with a $600 billion shortfall. Raising the top marginal rates to pre-Bush tax cut levels would chip off approximately $100 billion, leaving us with a $500 billion shortfall.
When will both sides wake up to the reality that in order to pull ourselves out of this mess, shared sacrifice will be necessary? Yes, we'll have to raise taxes - but not on whomever liberals deem to be "wealthy," which are actually middle-class earners and small-business owners.
No, let's begin by streamlining the tax code. Narrow it down to two brackets - something in the ballpark of 15% on > $45,000 and 35% on > $5 million. Period. Abolish ALL deductions, credits, loopholes, etc. Secondly, enact a hiring freeze for every Federal department; and for every two workers who leave their jobs, hire one replacement. Thirdly, cut the Federal budget by 10% annually,
across the board, for three years in a row, the end result being a 27% overall reduction in Federal spending. Fourthly, hire managers from Toyota to streamline and consolidate Federal departments using lean principles. I'm fucking serious. Corporations have made efforts to reduce waste as much as possible in order to maximize profits; why should the government operate any differently?
