House Republicans, led by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, this week say they will release a budget set to cut $4 trillion over the next decade.
Hallelujah! Until this act, both major political parties have refused to address the biggest challenge of our generation: the growing and unsustainable debt we are thrusting upon our children.
Democrats made me question whether they can add, as they've piled one well-intentioned yet costly social program on top of another. Republicans acted as if they could not subtract as, despite lots of rhetoric, they largely limited cutting efforts to programs like public broadcasting to score rhetorical points.
This is a defining moment for politicians of both parties. Americans know we have a major problem and they want action on it. But no one wants their special programs or benefits cut -- unless, and this is a big unless -- they feel others are also sacrificing.
This is President Obama's moment -- he is at a leadership crossroads. He can oppose the Republican cuts on social programs and suggest the old canard that we can solve the deficit by taxing wealthy Americans -- which, by the way, is not even a temporary solution to balancing the budget.
Obama can remain passive and see if Congress can work it out. With his reelection kick off this week, this appears to be his strategy -- much like the football team winning after half-time shifting to only running plays and defense. But for Obama to play defense so he is re-elected is not just disappointing to fans, it would be a total failure of leadership on our nation's biggest long term problem.
Or, the President can lead. He can call for shared sacrifice and propose the type of spending cuts, tax increases and growth-oriented policies that we need to cut our deficit and give our kids a better world.
Everything should be on the table. The goals should not only be numerical but also principled. We need to make hard choices by recognizing we can no longer afford costly entitlement programs. We must tie government checks to rules, for instance, limit unemployment to those volunteering or welfare reimbursements to healthy foods. We have to embrace entitlement reform -- simply challenging the use of one drug almost identical to another could save nearly a billion dollars annually.
We must cut tax loopholes without sacrificing growth in our economy and jobs. All in all, we must work together to make America a place where our children can thrive, unsaddled from our debt.
Cutting the deficit presents huge opportunities for our nation, but also challenges the integrity and fortitude of our elected officials. Politicians worried about their careers need to demonstrate extraordinary courage to save the next generation of this great nation. It's time we all sacrifice to cut the deficit and protect America's future.
Gary Shapiro is the president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, which represents more than 2,000 technology companies and owns and produces the International CES. Shapiro is the author of The Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream.
Follow Gary Shapiro on Twitter: www.twitter.com/GaryShapiro
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 |
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| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
Presumably no one would claim that any market system gave us this mess, it was the corrupt system in Washington.
Ryan's Medicare proposal would drive medical care to over 20% US GDP itself which is not sustainable. Germany, France, and Canada spend half that much in percentage GDP yet have years longer life expectancies. So no one is pulling the plug on Grandma.
The proposal feeds the insurance and drug companies that spend hundreds of millions lobbying in Washington. His proposal is consistent with the Republican philosophy that people should die in net worth order. Primarily it proposes a fix, a Final Solution, to US budget problems by substantially shortening the lifespan of Americans by at least a decade.
Aside from being an utter disgrace, such a proposal wouldn't work anyway. Maybe Ryan would propose doing away with low IQ kids or the chronically ill also or maybe he already has.
I'm sorry to see that the CEA has been captured by the hard right.
People who say that we can't afford Social Security and Medicare are selling you a bill of goods. Soc. Sec. is in the black for decades, and a few small tweaks, like increasing the amount of income subject to FICA or means-testing benefits would put it in the black as far as estimates can see. Medicade is FAR more efficient at delivering medical services than the fee-for-service system most of us are forced to use, which is why other industrialized countries have FAR better results from their health care spending than we do, and why we as a country would be better off with MORE people on Medicade.
The policies of the GOP are extremely reckless, uninformed and ideological. They led us into the Great Depression under Hoover, into the Great Recession under W., and will lead us into a double-dip recession if they are allowed to have their way.”
Think back one or two gernerations and remember how our parents and grandparents sacrificed so much so we can have a better life. Are we doing that? Hardly.
As to the CEA- 80 percent of our members are small businesses and many if not most of these are started by people who risked all they owned. This is the American way. I hardly think they believe they are living high - they are fighting for economic survival and trying their best to keep their companies solvent and their employees employed. They share a concern that our economy is in trouble because governement is spending more than it makes. More, CEA has never asked for any governmetn funding or special treatemtn for our members.
If you follow the links in the post you will see that all the simple answers do not solve the problem . This is a huge national issue and it will require us to step back and change our entitlement mentality, spending and taxes. More, we need to grow our economy at the same time. It will hurt but as Americans we have a history of coming through together. Pretending there is no problem does not solve it either.
There is a big difference from the time that my grandparents and even my parents grew up. What was the tax rate during the pre-Kennedy era? I believe it was around 70%. Kennedy lowered the rate drastically but to nowhere near where it is today. I'm so tired of tea partiers talking about how great the bygone days were and not mentioning that it was great because those who were wealthy actually "sacrificed". Meanwhile, I paid more in taxes than Exxon and GE combined. Yet you're asking ME to sacrifice more?
If you want equal sacrifice, fine. I would like to see corporations providing MUCH more in the way of employee benefits to take the burden off of the employees, such as child care on site, for example. I could think of a lot more. Oh, I forgot. It's not financially sound for the company, so we'll cut that too. See, people like you are not actually willing to show what the able are willing to do to share that sacrifice. Come on, the Supreme Court basically said corporations are people. Time to start paying your fair share of taxes, contribute to your own workers well being (and that means SALARY in case you were needing a hint) and stop busting unions.
Knowing what I know of corporations, I know that's just nonsense and wrapped up in your "plea for sanity" post is nothing more than a Republican screed. Sorry, nice try.
The answers may surprise you -- According to our own Congress, and the Joint Economic Committee, here's how it breaks down:
Top 1% makes 9% of the income and pays 37% of the taxes
Top 5% makes 33% of income and pays 57% of the taxes
Top 10% makes 44% of the income and pays 68% of the taxes
Top 25% makes 66% of the income and pays 85% of the taxes.
On the other hand, the bottom 50% of income earners make 13% of the income and pay 3% of the taxes.
So . . . who exactly is "not paying their fair share"?