Quote:
Originally Posted by GPK
I don't comment much down in this forum with you nut jobs, but I came across this piece that is probably one of the better I have read in a while.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/op...dman&seid=auto
Walker’s view is simple: “We are not Greece, where the government grew too big, promised too much and waited too long to restructure, but we’re making many of the same mistakes.” Because of the size of the U.S. economy and the dollar’s role as a global reserve currency, we “have some time” to get our house in order, “but we are not immune from the laws of prudent finance.” |
he is right to refer us to what is occurring in greece.
'wise is he who learns from another's mistakes'.
and at the bottom of the article, which is excellent:
Walker says the president’s budget cuts discretionary spending programs by 1 percent over 10 years, but mandatory spending programs — like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and interest on debt — will be left to grow by more than 96 percent over the same decade. As a result, in the year 2022, more than 77 percent of total government outlays will be on auto-pilot, “which is irresponsible and unsustainable.” There will be little left for defense or infrastructure, education and research that build our future.
As for Republicans, says Walker, “they don’t have a plan to restore fiscal sanity either. They’re in denial that we can solve our structural deficit problems with either our current level of taxation — between 15 and 16 percent of G.D.P. — or even with our historical average, about 18 percent of G.D.P. We need more revenue. Our deficit problem is primarily a spending problem, but it is not only a spending problem.”
We need $1 in new revenue for every $3 in spending cuts, excluding interest, says Walker — and that should be accomplished through tax reform that makes our system “simpler, fairer and more competitive,” while generating more revenue. “The Republicans are simply in denial about this.”
The American people are “starved for three things,” concludes Walker: “truth, leadership and solutions.” Unfortunately,
the two parties are just offering “laggardship — waiting for something to hit the fan” so they can again just react “
without adequate due diligence.”
he is absolutely correct on the bolded.
and the underlined: a perfect description of the current two party system.
we do need real tax reform. and we do need real changes to our 'entitlement' program, in which most people removes 3X more than they put in. it's unsustainable.