In their own ways, the major political parties agree the federal government spends too much. They disagree profoundly on where cuts need to be made and exactly how much revenue the government needs to keep running.
But what if you were invited to sit down with the pols negotiating over the debt ceiling right now? They want to know what your spending plan is – what you would cut or maybe increase. And taxes, too – which ones would you cut, keep the same, or raise?
Two organizations have put together rather comprehensive online tools that allow you to make such decisions and to see how your choices affect the nation's fiscal trajectory.
First up: the Bipartisan Policy Center's “Balancing Act.” It allows you to change tax and spending levels in increments. The goal is to create a “sustainable budget.” It doesn't have to balance – let alone run a surplus. But your choices will be measured against current policy to see whether you're more or less hawkish than the current crop of congressional spenders.
The downside of this tool: it's bossy demand for your data. You can fudge it, but still….you need to know my ZIP code because…why?
Another good tool is the “Debt Fixer” from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. The goal here is to reduce the debt as a percentage of GDP to less hair-raising levels by 2033 and 2050. There are numerous choices available on taxes and spending – including refusing to change anything.
And while the Committee also wants demographic data, it's not required to see your results.
These fiscal exercises will not satisfy those who would prefer to zero out entire federal agencies or activities – like the decades-long, quixotic attempts to abolish the Department of Education. But it offers a realistic goal: Making at least some of the hard choices the pols refuse to take (owing to their desire to remain in office) clear to the voters who elected them.
The tools may also open a few eyes as to the magnitude of some federal spending. No, foreign aid is not (and never has been) the monster that swallowed your tax dollars. It's entitlement spending – Social Security and Medicare. And Defense, And the interest on all that debt.
Dig into the tools. And share your results in the comments.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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CUT spending CUT waste, fraud alone
Scrap Dept Ed, Energy, Commerce, IRS FBI ATF DEA NIH NAID CDC
& cut 50T from debt