Deficit Reduction

Time to get back to the boring stuff. Paul Ryan, a Republican robot, released a deficit reduction plan today. It's bold, in that it makes hard cuts in areas we need to, and also really stupid, in that it makes a lot of cuts in programs that help support poor children, the elderly, and the disabled - while cutting taxes for the rich (again!). It's funny how we can be the richest country on the planet yet still be the stingiest when it comes to helping the sick, poor and old. Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses indeed!

Anyway. One of my favorite things about politics is that people repeatedly base decisions on ideology instead of experience. "Government is wasteful! Let's cut it!" says every Republican ever. When really government waste is minimal, and Medicare and Medicaid have less waste than private health insurance. Interesting and factual! But it won't convince any Republicans to preserve those systems because...um...I don't know why.

You know what's interesting? We recently had a budget surplus! Oh yeah! Didn't Clinton do that? How interesting! Maybe instead of just y'know listening to Republicans (who presided over the ballooning of the budget in the first place under Bush), we should look to how we balanced the budget back then. Let's see...

1) Let the Bush tax cuts expire for the love of Jesus! They cost like $150 billion. THAT IS A LOT. We were incredibly prosperous during the Clinton years and did so just fine with slightly higher taxes. This is obvious.

2) Stop going to war. They cost a lot of money. This includes Libya, probably.

3) Stop enacting programs without paying for them, like Bush's Medicare prescription drugs program. Example of a good new program: ObamaCare, which is 100% paid for. Example of good exception to rule: Stimulus, because the only time you should really have deficit spending is during a recession, to stimulate demand. If any conservatives read this blog they will not like this.

4) Stop having recessions. That's kind of pedantic, but that means we should probably stop doing things that lead to the loss of jobs - like cutting spending programs when we still have 18million+ people unemployed. And we should have strong regulations of the banking industry that stops those jerks from doing idiotic things like plunging the world into Great Depression II.

That's where you should start. Because, y'know, it has a proven track record of success. Evidence, you jerks.