Budget talks: This is getting nasty

Sell it this way: You'll never again have to "iron" a crumpled dollar bill against a vending machine in a vain attempt to get a Diet Coke.

 

I think we all should eliminate paper records. We can computerize everything so why do we have to save our tax reciepts for 7 years, or 10 years as a LLC? Waste of space, time and money.

 

You ever try to snort coke with a coin? Thought not. Stick to what you know.

 

If you're using a single, you're doing bumps of meth not coke.

 

This. Last year I itemized everything I could involving TWO homes (one's now a rental) we own plus business expenses. With no kids, we still didn't get past the standard deduction.

This year's different, but still, it's not that much.

You have to keep things that, at this point, are most likely to be spent. Having said that, I might keep the mortgage deduction for lower-income homeowners who are more likely to spend the savings out of necessity. I don't know if I'd base it on income or home value or what.

 

Impeach all the idiots who didn't raise it? Flip answer, I know.

 

I have family members that insist all entitlements must be eliminated. Of course they don't realize how much the government props up the economy.

I keep bringing up Somalia as an example of a true free market and they don't think that's an example of one. You can't win with those who harbor irrational beliefs.

 

People don't want to be weighed down with multiple dollar coins in their pockets . . . tough on the tailoring. It's that simple.

 

And yet, basically every place but the US does it. It really shouldn't be a big issue. We could also save money by doing away with pennies, but if we can't even get dollar coins into the system, I'm not holding my breath.

 

Another thing Americans don't want: high speed rail:

If done right, maybe high speed rail could work. But, as it stands, it will never be truly high speed -- safety regulations and right of ways will never allow for it. It's too expensive to build, and it's too expensive to ride.

It needs to compete against air travel, not trips we would/could otherwise drive easily.

 

More than this, it would have to be REALLY high speed (even faster than the famous Bullet Train in Japan) to be useful outside of a handful of regions in this country. Distance between major population centers are just too vast.

 

So what's the solution then? How do you cut?

Cut Medicare or Social Security benefits? You're picking on the elderly.

Cut Defense Spending? You're unpatriotic and endangering America's security.

Eliminate the Department of Education or other government departments? Watch unemployment rates shoot up even more and the states and/or local communities have to raise taxes to pay for the added burdens placed on them. Everyone still pays for it; they just write the check to the order of a different party.

There is no way to get us out of this fiscal mess without some kind of revenue increase, if only a temporary one. Between Bush's spending and Obama's spending, we've gone too far down that road. Cuts alone not only won't be politically viable, they just won't do the job.