Can we balance the budget by cutting spending rather than raising taxes?

Question

Every day I hear some politician on the radio or on TV talking about how we need more money for this and more money for that. Ostensibly they are proposing tax increases to generate this money.

Am I the only American (probably not) who is appalled by the government's wasting of the hard earned money they collect from us? Every publicly funded project seems to take longer than expected, cost more money than expected, and take more people than it should to accomplish. Then add all the so called "administrative costs" and it seems we're getting far less than our money's worth.

Why can't (or won't) some of our government officials begin taking steps to use the tax money wisely? Does the phrase "We can't afford that" exist in the political world the way it does in our individual households?

The government could do much more if they would use the money they already collect more wisely and cut out the wasteful spending.

Maybe this is more of a rant than a question...LOL

Answer 1

I agree with you.  You expressed my thoughts very well.

Answer 2

Politicians can't buy votes by cutting spending!

Answer 3

Cutting taxes and balancing the budget is POLITICAL SUICIDE.

The American public WANTS everything for nothing and will gladly OPEN their wallets to fork over more money to those in congress who PROMISE to do this or that for them.

Oxymoron to me. What we need is a politician who does not plan to make it a career in congress who is willing to CUT any and all programs and laws which are not REVENUE generating and replace the mentality with SPEND ONLY what you have in the bank and DON'T borrow  yourself into debt.

China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Iran owns much of our debt. That's why these countries get what they want from congress. They OWN America, in a financial way of speaking. Check it out.

President Jefferson attempted to balance the budget and paid down the national debt during all eight years he held office. Despite his earlier rhetoric, though, Jefferson did not press Congress for a balanced-budget amendment. Later, President Jackson made the United States debt free by shifting spending to the states, but the economy, wobbling on a precarious structure of state-bank credit, finally collapsed in the Panic of 1837.

Thanks for President Eisenhower we shift "this" from "here" to "there" balances the budget annually but it's all smoke and mirrors. He was partly the cause of our Social Security becoming a Lame Duck which unless rescued soon, it will be at ZERO by 2025.

Answer 4

We "can" but we won't.

Both political parties are parties of entitlements and big government spending.  The last fiscal conservative was Ronald Reagan.  Unless we get another fiscal conservative soon, we are bound for Socialism, since higher taxes and having everything run by the government will be the only way to keep the economy afloat (and to manage the national debt).

Answer 5

Preach it!

Answer 6

First question - yes we can.  Of course it will take somebody with the actual backbone in Washington to say "no" and have you noticed that in that city such people are few and far between?

Second question - No, you are not the only one.

Third question - because very few people in our country see the big picture and people will not re-elect somebody who didn't support their pet project.  And in a society that increasingly passes the buck on any kind of personal responsibility for its well-being, this favors spendthrift liberals who are all in favor of (surprise surprise) "Somebody else" solving their problems.

No, Congress doesn't understand the concept of not being able to afford something.

You are preaching to the choir in this case, but you go boy!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 7

That would certainly help, but ideally if we did both it would help us get back to the black faster. Having said that I want my taxes cut...haha.

Answer 8

I think we need to do both, but more cutting spending especially on the military. But as for raising taxes it should be on the very wealthy whom Bush has drasticly cut the taxes for.

Answer 9

Yes we can!  

But we're not going too.

No politician, democrat or republican, EVER CUTS SPENDING.  NEVER!

Answer 10

One will not work well with out the other.

It is the combination of the two.  Each having a synergistic effect on the other.

Answer 11

I think a lot of people feel this way.  I agree there should be ways to cut spending, but for politicians it is easier to ask for more money than to figure out ways to cut how we spend the money we have.  

I feel like they are going to have to give at some point.  There is no way that we can keep raising costs for everything, raising tax rates on property, sales, income, etc.  

I feel your concerns, and I just hope that sometime soon someone will come along that will want to make these changes, although my feeling is that nobody in their right mind, that is a genuinely good person would run for government with all of the stuff the media and other politicians run them through.

Answer 12

Depends.  If you want to go after military spending and stuff like medicare and social security, then yes you can.  If you're trying to do it by surgically removing the "fat" then probably not.  One man's fat is another man's pork rinds.

Answer 13

yes that would be the way to go, fire half the federal workforce, get out of Iraq and slash the Defense department and add to teh VA