Thread: The Deficit Reduction Panel Report

U.S. Debt Proposal Would Cut Social Security, Medicare - Bloomberg

The co-chairmen of President Barack Obama’s debt-reduction commission will propose cuts to Social Security and Medicare, as well as reductions in income tax rates in exchange for curbing tax breaks, according to a Republican aide who attended the meeting.

The chairmen’s plan is already causing some Democrats and Republicans on the 18-member commission to balk. The plan will be announced at 1 p.m. Washington time today, said commission spokesman Fred Baldassaro.

When I find the draft report, I'll post it. If anyone else here finds it please go ahead and post it.

Thoughts?

Here's a proposal folks are going to love that is in the draft:
Reduce corporate tax rate to 26% and permanently extend the research credit

A whole lot of folks are going to just love that one.

Here is the draft report:

http://online.wsj.com/public/resourc...hair_Draft.pdf

The real big news in the report, and to be fair, what we got yesterday came from the co-chairs and not the entire committee, is the proposal for cuts in defense spending.

This is important because it is one of those third rails particularly for conservatives, meanwhile there are 8 Republican senators now including Rand Paul, Mark Kirk and Tom Cobourn who have talked about defense cuts to some degree in recent weeks.

The report calls for closing a third of overseas bases.

Defense spending is the elephant in the room. It takes up just over half of all discretionary spending now in the US at over $700 billion, but today most GOP'ers just love the sound of the argument that typically attacks liberals for wanting to rein it in. Now the GOP establishment will get it from their own for the first time in ages.

The report doesn't really leave any turn unstoned.

Imho, although I am for sensible cuts in waste all across the board, I tend to agree with Bernie Sanders that entitlement spending didn't cause the mess we're in today, two unpopular wars, a Wall Street bailout, and huge tax cuts to the wealthy, all of which required borrowed money were the factors that did the economy in, not SS or Medicare.

No rational thinking person can possibly justify cutting much-needed benefits for working families or to ask seniors to work a few years longer while Exxon made $15 billion last year, didn't pay any taxes, and actually saw a refund from the IRS for $156 million, all due to tax exemptions, loopholes, and more importantly, corporate welfare subsidies from Washington.

You add up all the things so far from these two co-chairs and the narrative is clear: jack up working families and seniors once again in order to pay for corporate welfare, unpopular wars, and tax cuts for the rich.

Originally Posted by Jason Marcel

Defense spending is the elephant in the room. It takes up just over half of all discretionary spending...

Not to be confused with the large whale that the elephant is hiding behind - Entitlements, which take up over half of All spending...

That doesn't mean military spending shouldn't necessarily be reduced, it just means you're focusing on the problem that your car has a flat tire and ignoring the fact that it's also on fire.

Originally Posted by Jason Marcel

I tend to agree with Bernie Sanders that entitlement spending didn't cause the mess we're in today, two unpopular wars, a Wall Street bailout, and huge tax cuts to the wealthy, all of which required borrowed money were the factors that did the economy in, not SS or Medicare.

Again, a few hundred billion here and a few hundred billion there are more significant than a few trillion? Sounds like you need to go back and redo grade school math.

Originally Posted by Jason Marcel

No rational thinking person can possibly justify cutting much-needed benefits for working families or to ask seniors to work a few years longer...

And no sane person can possibly justify taxing working families to reward others for making bad decisions, not the least of which is voting for politicians who have no grasp of economic reality and supported a 'recipe for bankruptcy' retirement program.

Originally Posted by Jason Marcel

...while Exxon made $15 billion last year, didn't pay any taxes, and actually saw a refund from the IRS for $156 million, all due to tax exemptions, loopholes, and more importantly, corporate welfare subsidies from Washington.

Okay, yes, there is certainly room for review and probable elimination of the tax exemptions and loopholes, and definite phasing out of welfare, including the corporate kind.

This committee was assembled by Obama; any and all recommendations must be roundly rejected regardless of consequences or merit. We must keep the long term goals of removing liberals and democrats from the national political scene at the forefront. Even the slightest concession with this panel’s recommendations is a demonstration of weakness, and an endorsement of Obama's socialist policies.

Paul Ryan said that this report is "A good start"

I tend to agree.

It does raise taxes more than I'd like. It doesn't cut government as much as I'd like... but a 10% reduction in the Federal non-uniform work force is a good start. It does balance the budget.

We'll need to see where... if anywhere... this goes.

Me too. I dont know the exact numbers, but the basic idea of lowering tax rates and broadening the base, as well as accross the board cuts seems like common sense. Grow the economy, cut spending. Pretty much what conservatives have always said. Of course, little of this will ever get passed. If I were the RNC I would immediatly write a bill encompassing the entire thing, and committ to it. Pass it day 1 of COngress, and then say the DNC is the party of NO, and has NO ideas.

I just want to point out that according to this:

Taking apart the federal budget (washingtonpost.com)

Expenditures:

1. Defense
2. Other Discretionary
3. Social Security
4. Other
5. Followed by a rapid fall off

Originally Posted by jviehe

Me too. I dont know the exact numbers, but the basic idea of lowering tax rates and broadening the base, as well as accross the board cuts seems like common sense. Grow the economy, cut spending. Pretty much what conservatives have always said. Of course, little of this will ever get passed. If I were the RNC I would immediatly write a bill encompassing the entire thing, and committ to it. Pass it day 1 of COngress, and then say the DNC is the party of NO, and has NO ideas.

I'd read it a bit more carefully - effective tax rates would go up for many; it calls for eliminating many of the loopholes that the upper tiers enjoy.