Jobs

When thinking about problems, you gotta think short, medium, and long term. The deficit is a big problem in the medium and long term, but not the short term. America is by a huge margin the largest and most stable economy in the world. If our deficit continues to rapidly expand, it's possible that we will lose that status in 7-10 years (medium term), but that is some way off.

But there are about 11 million people who are unemployed right now. That's an immediate problem, both morally and fiscally. If half of those could find work, they would also consume a lot more goods, thereby helping the economy, pay a lot more taxes, thereby raising revenue, and cost less spending on things like unemployment insurance, reducing spending. That should be the #1 immediate focus of the government.

Obama's tried to get as much fiscal stimulus done as he could, which helped a lot, but there is a lot more to be done. Almost all of the Republicans proposals address the medium to long-term problem - the deficit - but I haven't seen anything they've proposed that will actually help job growth. Actually, by cutting spending and social services, they will almost certainly cost us more jobs! Backwards and dumb. It's like your doctor removing a precancerous tumor instead of operating on your gunshot wound.