In the midst of the highest deficit since 2012, Republican Senators finally decide to fix the problem; cutting social programs

[TheDarkKnight]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...fFzsdTuE-EMWzg

Step 1: Pass a tax cut that increases the overall debt by 1.5 trillion dollars
Step 2: Pass a defense budget nearly equal to 700 billion dollars
Step 3: Blame the budget/deficit woes on social programs (as per usual)
Step 4: Profit(?)

I'm glad this is coming out now. Medicare and Social Security directly benefit the Republican base; the elderly. Even they have their limits and hopefully seeing the Republican Senators want to cut into the things that they need will force them to see their party is not for them. But maybe not.

McConnell The Turtle is such a piece of . It hasn't been this high in six years and he has the gall to blame anything but their own actions for this.

The worst part is I doubt enough on the right will care...as long as the left cries foul, the right cries with joy. Grand Old Party of Obstruction

[swabian]

Well, would you cut the military budget in half, like i suggested to US-Americans many years ago? Or reduce it by one third and instead spend it on social and educational needs? The guy whom i spoke to bragged about how well he can shoot and how much he would like to kill me last time i did it (it's not even that much, so your budget is fixed on something else mostly).

[NorseThing]

So should we reverse the tax cuts and still have a budget deficit that is still growing? I do not see how the tax side would have prevented this. Please explain.

[swabian]

So should we reverse the tax cuts and still have a budget deficit that is still growing? I do not see how the tax side would have prevented this. Please explain.

Who? Me?

Well, cut your BS military spending and invest in growing things, like educated people. And if you have share money, invest it in the growth of third wold countries. Invest sensibly. How hard can it be.

[NorseThing]

Who? Me?

Well, cut your BS military spending and invest in growing things, like educated people. And if you have share money, invest it in the growth of third wold countries. Invest sensibly. How hard can it be.

Not directed at you specifically. The problem is much bigger than military spending, though that has to be part of the solution. How does spending more on some items (your example of third world aid) help solve the deficit problem? Again, the problem of the USA deficit is promising and growing social spending without regard to the budget. The social spending is mostly on autopilot so it is easy to complain about the military spending which is not on autopilot. Give the same scrutiny to the social spending as you seem to wish regarding the military spending and I would think the budget would be under better control.

[swabian]

Look, you will never be able to pay back your debts, so you might as well spend "your" money productively. You need to come out of your nihilistic nest and realize that you are the ones who failed on nearly all levels. The only thing that you are currently worth is the questionable stability you provide by nuclear threat minus all the BS that will inevitably come back to you. Where do you think this is all headed to? Paradise for North America and nuclear winter for the rest of the world? Trump evidently doesn't faze you at all (!), no matter your self loathing. Are you really this insane? Do you really need to be destroyed?

[Heathen Hammer]

OP was close to making an excellent point, but ruined it with partisanship. Military industrial complex defined US policy for almost a century, under both Democrats and GOP. Plus OP stand against "right" makes no sense, as previous administration was already 1 old war and 2 new wars in at the same stage as current one is now without new wars, which makes Trump's government the most pacifistic one since pre-Reagan era.
From a more objective standpoint, little can change with America's current political structure, where both major parties are under firm control of above-mentioned MIC, as well as web of other lobbies and interest groups which will defined government policies, regardless of whether politicians that represent them pretend to like traditional values or social justice, depending on their target audience.

[conon394]

So should we reverse the tax cuts and still have a budget deficit that is still growing? I do not see how the tax side would have prevented this. Please explain.

If the tax cuts were reversed and taxes increased on the most wealthy, and absurd offshore and other tyoes of loop holes removed that benifit the most wealthy I suspect the deficit would not be increasing.

The republicans should look to the Defense department first:

It can't find find its money:

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...w-funds-322860

And right now when it does spend it is missing the ball. A pentagon that can build the utterly useless and non function ships like the Zumwalt and LCS and the Ford class (mind you while tossing good ships out the door and to the bottom since that threatened the logic of their techno toys) not to mention the baffling not useful F-35 does not deserves the love it gets and it unquestioned budget requests. If anything needs to be cut to control the deficit its the Pentagon it really cannot be trusted with money.

Why not simply remove the artificial cap on how much income is taxed for Social Security. Recognize the immense disparity in earnings and wealth in the US for the over all social good.

[Prodromos]

The government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

[TheDarkKnight]

And the social programs are the only contributor of that? Those elderly that need their social security and even their healthcare taken care of to survive? THEY are the problem? Seriously?

Think about it. These lunatics in Congress dropped a trillion and a half dollars of potential revenue for years, increased spending on things we don't currently need (especially after the utter fiasco of the F-35 program that cost, what, 150 billion dollars overbudget?!) and then says:

Now...how can we pay for all of this...? How can we cut spending elsewhere to make this plan viable...

Oh I know! Destroy the means with which we take care of the elderly and the sick. Perfect!

-GOP Congress, probably


I would fear the next thing they start doing is cutting the budget to other necessary things but...let's be honest, this administration is already doing that by appointing incompetent buffoons to key positions and then slashing budgets left and right despite the fact that doing so basically neuters anything they can do.

Party of fiscal responsibility my ass. The only time they cry foul of the budget being overused is if the current President has a (D) next to their name. Now you can argue the same about Democrats when Republicans are in power but we at least can realize that the social programs touted by Dems are (mostly) being used on a daily basis to help people while we have billions of dollars going to purposes in the military that are not being used.

[The spartan]

The government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

Just like with any budget, those aren't actually separate issues. That is just the perspective of wanting the government to be either big or small.

[Prodromos]

I read the article and I don't see any plans to actually cut these programs. Cocaine Mitch is just telling the truth: entitlements will have to be dealt with sooner or later. Even getting rid of all military spending won't erase the budget deficit. The main drivers of the skyrocketing debt are the entitlements.

[swabian]

I read the article and I don't see any plans to actually cut these programs. Cocaine Mitch is just telling the truth: entitlements will have to be dealt with sooner or later. Even getting rid of all military spending won't erase the budget deficit. The main drivers of the skyrocketing debt are the entitlements.

(...)

What kind of entitlements is "Cocaine Mitch" even talking about? The bureaucratic costs to uphold a large democracy?

What is suspiciously obvious is how linear the graphs become after 2020.

[conon394]

Even getting rid of all military spending won't erase the budget deficit. The main drivers of the skyrocketing debt are the entitlements.

Again revise the Social security. Means test it at the high end and alter it to reflect the concentration and disparity of wealth in the US now vs when it was instituted. Most simple eliminate the artificial cutoff on income. Necessarily you likely also have to add perhaps a another year or two till full retirement incremented down the road to deal with life expectancy. As for Medicare and Medicade, your right scrape them and institute French style health care (note not a single payer plan) cut your spending by over 50% by getting rid of our ludicrously inefficient system of health care delivery.

So in the graph revenue is projected as flat? What the economy stops growing.

[paladinbob123]

its no surprise as Bernie sanders predicted such a move some months ago.....that poor people would have to pay for the tax cuts to the rich and corporations...although I don't know how they will square that with the electorate, as it is always a campaign killer to any, who would cut the very popular medical benefits, which are particulary important to the retired who regularly vote...


{from 10months ago or so}

[swabian]

this senile godfather-obvious is a vicarious embarassment. good that he wasted his precious last years for a rapists' corrupt for no good reason.

[paladinbob123]

this senile godfather-obvious is a vicarious embarassment. good that he wasted his precious last years for a rapists' corrupt for no good reason.

{from nov2017}

whatever your point of view or the obvious bias you hold , the point that you turn it into a personal attack on him , is just a deflection that his statements were correct.

Yes , you, like trump can show that you can scoup low , and slander everything that you disagree with, rather is irrelevant to the point , he was making , that republicans were planning this move, even as they were giving tax cuts , for there donors . You can shout , scream , curse, and make a general fool of yourself, insulting all and everything , and that facts are "alternative facts" and that all news against the republicans are "fake news" but what does that reveal about your nature?

[swabian]

I'm not shouting or anything. I just relaxedly despise him for the waste of time that he was for well meaning US voters. And Trump can eat crap and croak for all i care.

[paladinbob123]

I'm not shouting or anything. I just relaxedly despise him for the waste of time that he was for well meaning US voters. And Trump can eat crap and croak for all i care.

That's fine , it just shows your bias which was evidently clear[for all to see , which effects your reason], and the point is that you are not disputing Senator Sanders words, which means you effectively agree with them ..and for that, I am sure Bernie will be happy you have learnt something

[swabian]

That's fine , it just shows your bias which was evidently clear[for all to see , which effects your reason], and the point is that you are not disputing Senator Sanders words, which means you effectively agree with them ..and for that, I am sure Bernie will be happy you have learnt something

Yes, i learned that deep down inside i still wish the foolish buzzard would have paved the way for an actual coldblooded warmongeress. Maybe his eccentric ramblings will succeed next time, provided he survives long enough.