Balance the budget to avoid long-term financial disaster
The federal budget is on a course for disaster and our first priority should be to turn it around. By allowing the government to run a deficit, we run the risk of harming the economy and burdening our children with the debts we were unwilling to pay. The federal government has to stop living beyond its means and giving out tax cuts like party favors. Unless we act now, senior entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare will end up both breaking the budget and failing to serve the elderly when the baby boomers retire en masse. The critical task is balancing the budget and reforming the entitlement programs. Anything less means failing in our obligations to both our children and the elderly.
What Should be Done?
Return to the pay as you go budget policies that helped us eliminate the last deficit. Don't create any new federal programs unless they are balanced with spending cuts or new taxes. Allow the tax cuts passed over the last three years to expire as planned. Raise the retirement age and adjust benefits to keep Social Security solvent. Eliminate Social Security payments for wealthy retirees. Increase Medicare premiums and encourage recipients to use HMOs to control costs. If we return to a budget surplus, use the money to either pay off the federal debt or bail out Social Security and Medicare.
Arguments For This Approach
Our current course of running up deficits is irresponsible were just passing off problems onto our own children because were unwilling to make tough decisions. The tax cuts were meant as a short-term measure to boost the economy. Making them permanent would throw the budget out of balance for years. Now is the best time to reform the senior entitlement programs, while the baby boomers are still in the workforce and the number of seniors covered is relatively small. It's better to give senior citizens more limited benefits than to allow the Social Security and Medicare systems to collapse entirely. And shifting to a stock-investment system will cost more in the short term.
Arguments Against This Approach
Deficits have their uses. After all,the country prospered during 30 years of nearly constant deficits, and the current deficit may have even helped spur the economy. We have a deficit because of the war on terrorism and the poor economy things that can't be helped. We need to keep taxes low to stimulate the economy and create jobs. Besides, its always better for taxpayers to keep their own money. We promised Social Security and Medicare to the elderly. We shouldn't balance the budget on the backs of senior citizens.
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