The United States Deficit?

Question

I just got back from talking to a representative on capitol hill, and him and I were talking about the US deficit (since he is a decision maker on this subject) There is much word of decreasing USAF troops and increasing USMC and Army troops along with increase in civilian contracting for Air Force jobs (because this is cheaper). I told him that decreasing air support would make our nation vulnerable under the circumstances that we were to be attacked by either two countries at the same time or North Korea (because they have the backing of China.) I told him, unfortunately, that the only way to fix the deficit is to bite the bullet and raise taxes. This will piss off the american people but this is a well needed move to keep the US defended in a time of crisis. What are your thoughts on this and what would you suggest if you were talking to him?

It's actually President Bush that wants to do this. For those who were wondering who put this forth.

Answer 1

Deficit spending is nothing more than passing the bill to pay for stuff to our children with interest added just so the politicians don't get voted out for raising taxes.

It is better to pay for the expenses now than to have to pay billions in interest on top of the expenses.

Unfortunately the Republicans for the past 30 years or so have been anything but conservative in the fiscal sense. Sure they have insisted on not raising taxes but have spent way over budget forcing the Democrats to raise taxes to pay the debt.

On the other hand Democrats in addition to having their hand forced into raising taxes to pay the debt, they are also wasting money with socialistic programs that eliminate any budget surpluses that their tax hikes would bring.

We need to just simply not spend any more than we take in with taxes at the rate that they currently have or lower.

If that means that we can't afford to wage a war against a nation that did not attack us nor was any kind of threat to us, so be it.

Answer 2

I don't know where people got the idea that tax-cuts would decrease the national deficit, since it stands to reason it would do the opposite. So i did a little research, and I was able to find a complete breakdown of the Bush tax-cuts and the effect on our economy. Turns out the crazy notion that cutting taxes would somehow increase revenue is ... CRAZY. You know how liberals are, always demanding facts and nonsense like that. If you don't believe me you can read these documents from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. They predicted in 2004 that the tax cuts would have a negative impact on the economy, and there is another link from a few days ago reiterating this assertion. As for the military part of the question, we spend more than any other country in the world on our military, and I'd support less military spending almost any day, even in a time of unnecessary war. But if we're going to continue to piss off the rest of the world, we should at least have the capacity to defend ourselves. ( I would like to point out, however, the confusion experienced by NORAD which led to them not being able to intercept a single hijacked airplane on 9/11. They were too busy conducting training exercises, one where an imaginary hijacked plane crashes into the Pentagon.) So we're not that safe even with an Air Force. Click.

Answer 3

China buys a really large amount of our debt right now... it'd cushion the blow and buy us some time to raise money through taxation, trade, etc. and put the deficit back into reasonable territory. Some inflation would actually be good for us right now; it'd counter the deflation that's occurring now, which is actually worse than inflation because central banks bet on the side of inflation. Also if the recession continues we're not gonna be able to tackle the deficit...

Answer 4

That is one solution...Or we could cut out some of pork-barrell spending in government or cut out some of the wasteful social programs that do nothing but keep people tied to what the government does. Maybe if we cut some of these programs, the military would be able to keep the amount of troops it needs to do its job and we wouldn't have to raise taxes in order to do it. Or of course we could just tax the American people till they are blue in the face and can't afford to do anything on their own and so that way all of us are tied to the government. Yeah, socialism baby, its a great thing when there is no accountability for anything you do and yet the government will give you money anyway. Sounds like a great idea and the technology will just roll off the shelves.

Answer 5

Raising tax rates would slow the economy resulting in lower revenues. I think that we need nore ground troops available for combat. I don't know exactly what reductions in the air force are being considered. What I see as the biggest need is for tactical bombers to support ground troops & the capability to strike specific sites (nukes & missiles) in hostile countries without needing ground troops.

The only tax I could support would be an import duty on oil from unfriendly countries.

Answer 6

How about an answer from someone who has a brain AND the ability and patience to look up the Treasury receipts....

TAX REVENUE HAS SKYROCKETED SINCE THE BUSH TAX CUTS. Revenue is UP. That means that a tax HIKE could very well REDUCE revenue. In fact, that's what exactly happened when the current POTUS' DAD raised tax rates - adjusted for inflation, revenue went DOWN.

Answer 7

Hum and all this time I thought the aswer to getting rid of high taxes was to get rid of illegals? Who live on our welfare system?After all our biggest threat to America is the open borders.

Answer 8

I disagree. We do not front burner the deficit while our nation is at war. And we do not decrease the military, either.

If the Dems do that, they are committing political suicide.

Nah. I'm not taking your word on that one. Prove it.

Answer 9

OK, here's and answer for you. I don't believe a word of what you said.