You solve the budget

[NotDeadYet]

NYT has a nifty interactive graphic. You make your own choices and see if you can solve the budget deficit.

Budget Puzzle: You Fix the Budget - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com

 

[wrobert]

Both sides appear to be correct, it is going to take spending cuts and tax hikes to ever get this thing back under control. It would appear that everyone has gone a bit too far.

 

[idlewind]

Man I did not know the fix was this easy. I worked through the activity and achieved a 23 billion surplus in 2015 and a 68 billion surplus in 2030. 83% from spending cuts and no new taxes except allowing the bush tax cuts to expire for those over 250,000 and extending payroll taxes above 106,000. I can even tolerate the Simpson-Bowles proposal which kicks in another 75 billion in 2015 and 175 billion in 2030. So at the 2015 rate I could reduce the debt by approximately 1.5 trillion dollars by 2030. Maybe I should run for congress.

 

[30ashopper]

Where's the "eliminate the department of education" option? Oh right, this is on the NYT web site.

 

[idlewind]

Where's the "eliminate the department of education" option? Oh right, this is on the NYT web site.

We can only ask for so much. But we must start somewhere.

 

[Matt J]

Budget Puzzle: You Fix the Budget - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com

You always ask how a liberal would do it.

 

[30ashopper]

I find it interesting that one of the largest gains in the "raise taxes" area comes from letting the Bush tax cuts for the lower and middle classes expire.

 

[idlewind]

Budget Puzzle: You Fix the Budget - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com

You always ask how a liberal would do it.

Cripple the military, screw the seniors and send low income and the middle class households to bankruptcy. So the recession will turn to a depression and anyone who wants can whip us. But I have to give it to you, the deficit is ended and the national debt will be reduced.

 

[Matt J]

Cripple the military, screw the seniors and send low income and the middle class households to bankruptcy. So the recession will turn to a depression and anyone who wants can whip us. But I have to give it to you, the deficit is ended and the national debt will be reduced.

I love how conservatives take the idea of scaling down our military as crippling it.

I haven't read the actual changes to the SS retirement age so I don't know if that's an immediate change and someone who planned on retiring at 62 in the next 5 years would now have to wait. As far as cutting SS benefits to millionaires, sorry I'm not gonna budge on that.

Everyone's going to have to suffer to get through this. Feel free to discuss it instead of running for ridiculously partisan scenario's and over the top talking points.

 

[idlewind]

I love how conservatives take the idea of scaling down our military as crippling it.

I haven't read the actual changes to the SS retirement age so I don't know if that's an immediate change and someone who planned on retiring at 62 in the next 5 years would now have to wait. As far as cutting SS benefits to millionaires, sorry I'm not gonna budge on that.

Everyone's going to have to suffer to get through this. Feel free to discuss it instead of running for ridiculously partisan scenario's and over the top talking points.

Actually you shamed me into rethinking my solution to try and match your superior savings. I reworked mine and the results are:

Budget Puzzle: You Fix the Budget - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com

Much bigger savings and still 76% of savings from spending cuts.