Everyday, our children are accumulating debt and interest they'll spend their lives paying off, curtailing their ability to meet challenges and invest in the future. How do we get our country out of its $1.35 trillion hole?
Democrats have faced that question before when having to clean up other people's mess. Part of the answer lies in a simple principle: our country must start paying for what it buys. That idea is called pay-as-you-go, or "PAYGO," and it means that all new tax cuts and entitlement spending must be paid for by finding savings elsewhere, keeping those policies from adding to our deficit. This week, the House can vote to stop the growth of our deficit by sending a PAYGO law to President Obama's desk.
We're confident in PAYGO, because we've seen it bring down deficits before. Like President Obama, President Clinton entered office facing large deficits left over from the previous administration -- but by the time he left office, those deficits were replaced by a $5.6 trillion projected surplus. PAYGO was a part of that success: as President Obama observed in his State of the Union Address, "the pay-as-you-go law...was a big reason why we had record surpluses in the 1990s."
The next administration waived the PAYGO law and ultimately allowed it to expire, choosing to use borrowed money to finance tax cuts that primarily benefited the wealthy, two wars, and a massive prescription drug entitlement. If PAYGO had remained in place, much of that reckless borrowing would not have been possible. That legacy of irresponsibility, along with the effects of the economic downturn, created today's fiscal mess. It's a mess President Obama and Democrats are committed to cleaning up--and we hope Republicans will join us in our efforts.
PAYGO has been a House rule since Democrats regained the majority in 2007, but giving it the force of law has the strong backing of many progressives. Progressives understand that growing debt and interest payments, unless curtailed now, will eat up money that should go to the long-term investments that matter most -- investments in areas like clean energy, education, and health care. Discipline today will preserve our ability to fund those priorities in the years to come.
PAYGO can also stop debt-financed tax cuts for the privileged. Rather than pushing the costs onto our children, future tax-cutters will have to explain just which programs they'd cut, today, to make their gift to the wealthy affordable. With PAYGO in place, neither Democrats nor Republicans will be able to hide the consequences of their actions.
With our fiscal hole so deep, it's important to get rid of the shovel. But climbing out will take much more work, which is why President Obama is creating a bipartisan fiscal commission to make recommendations for getting our budget back to balance by 2015. Congressional leaders have pledged to bring those recommendations to the floor of both chambers for an up-or-down vote. Finally, our fiscal danger underscores the importance of reform that takes on the single greatest source of the deficit -- rapidly rising health care costs. That's why Democrats are working to find the best way to reform our health care system.
Deficits and debt may seem like abstract problems, especially at a time of economic hardship and unemployment for so many Americans. But while Congress works to bring down unemployment by passing a jobs bill -- which would be allowed by PAYGO's emergency exception for legislation responding to recession -- we can't afford to ignore the long-term fiscal picture. Deepening debt can do real damage to our way of life, creating slow growth and economic pain for years to come.
That outcome can still be avoided, but only if we rededicate our country to responsibility. Sending President Obama a PAYGO law will not end our debt problem. But it is the irreplaceable first step.
1. Hold government spending to 1995 levels which means massive cuts in government;
2. Reduce corporate taxes to no higher than 20% to encourage business growth;
3. Cut Capital gains tax to encourage growth;
4. Get rid of the “death tax” to enable capital formation;
5. Drill for oil in USA (cheap power needed);
6. More coal mining and coal plants (cheap power needed);
7. Build nuclear plants (cheap power needed);
8. Reduce the EPA by 75% to cut needless costs and red tape;
9. Secure the borders of USA to protect freedom;
10. Keep our military strong to protect us from enemies;
11. Reduce personal income tax rates by extending the Bush tax cuts;
12. Forget about cap and trade;
13. Forget about government medicine;
14. Annual balanced budget amendment;
15. Government spending cannot exceed 15% of GDP;
16. Privatize Social Security (government is incompetent;
17. Eliminate waste in Medicare;
18. End all welfare programs (too much waste)
INCREASE TAXES ON THE RICH!!!
Where was Steny when the Republicans were messing up everything?
all youse guys want to do is make defunding the Social programs when Americans need them the most as palatable as possible. Obama said EVERYONE would have to sacrifice and we were behind that. but now that we've found out he only meant the proletariat, we're no so keen.
Ya'll need to get out in the sticks more and see how real Americans are living. Maybe talk to a few actual progressives.
In the financial collapse, our fiscal deficit burgeoned as we have attempted to make whole billionaires and fraudulent bankers while covering up fraud. And every substantive measure for creating new jobs only makes the financial institutions more dominate over the American national interests and while the ordinary Americans are forgotten.
Why has my once beloved Democratic Party become a neo-plutocratic party for oligarchs? Why do you allow our errant President to double-cross the middle class and other working and unemployed, down-trodden citizens of our bankrupt nation? How can you talk only about cutting the budget that benefits the Wall Street and banking interests while knowing that our young people wander anchorlessly through life without jobs or future? We would be grateful to receive a response.
Stop the wars, cut the defense budget, re-regulate Wall Street and make it transparent to the American people, and then consider cutting social programs. I don't pay my taxes to support dubious wars and helping the richest get richer.
The proposed NASA cuts are the most dangerous part of the budget. A great space program is exactly the mission that can lift the population's economy. Achieving the nuclear produced Hydrogen Economy is the catalyst that will provide clean and intensive energy required for a modern nation; job mobilization is necessary for actual economic recovery.
The United States must produce; Re-institute the the nation's authority of the U.S. government to create long term debt capital to refinance industry. Credits and currency will be issued into the population's physical economy with the executive of creating the necessary facilities that enhance our standard of living.
The whole world is dependent on the political process in the United States; the political leadership must act rationally, courageously and powerfully to counterattack the collapsing operation of the monetary system; must use the power of the Federal government as if in a war time urgency in order to protect the population.