Budget Reconciliation

I’m sorry. The Budget Cut proposal submitted by the GOP rep Paul Ryan is an outrage. First and foremost, I take exception to the fact that the GOP still widely advertises that Medicare is running the US Budget Deficit into the ground and bankrupting the country. Anyone that reads his or her pay stub should know that this is an outright lie. The GOP wants to put that money into something else. But as per every working American’s pay stub, we pay in that money specifically to Medicare. It is not calculated into our federal taxes. Therefore, it is not part of the deficit. We are paying it, but we are paying it directly into the Medicare fund. It is separate.

The GOP routinely avoids discussion of defense spending when they consider the budget. The Bush Administration did not even include the cost for the war in Iraq IN their budget.  When one looks at what our government spends, the bulk of it goes to DEFENSE SPENDING. Seems to me, this should be the first place cut simply because we’re spending it on unnecessary and illegal wars. If we eliminated half of what we spend on these wars, we could feed more of the population.

If Obama wants to balance the budget and pay off Bush’s war, I have some solutions. Unfortunately, they won’t be very popular among the GOP and their cronies. They involve re-routing money in ‘all the wrong places.’ First, we legalize Marijuana. If regulated, Marijuana could pay off the national debt in no time. If we regulate it, set a legal age limit of 21 on it and tax it heavily like we do cigarettes and alcohol, it would do wonders for the economy, creating jobs on several fronts, including growth, production, transport and distribution and sales. The problem is, it would heavily cut into drug industry profits. The lobbyists and pharmaceutical executives would be outraged, and the alcohol industries right along with them.

Secondly, we eliminate all tax breaks to companies that outsource jobs to other countries. If they’re not going to create American jobs, they don’t need American tax breaks. The GOP continues to support the myth that giving tax breaks to the rich creates jobs, but when those jobs are for foreigners on foreign soil, what good does it do Americans?

Thirdly, increase taxes on all Americans who make from $100,000/year to $200,000/year by a half a percent and over $200,000 by 1 percent. It’s not fair to collect more taxes from those that make less income. Everyone should pay their fair share, regardless of how rich they are.

Fourthly, reset the business taxes and for companies who keep jobs here in the U.S., reduce their tax breaks by half. They deserve a tax break for keeping jobs here, but they still need to pay more taxes.  They are, after all, making more than the average Joe. If they want a break, give them a bonus for going green. Any company that recycles, goes the extra mile to avoid pollution and puts out green products can get a bonus based on how much they do to protect the environment for each year they can prove these measures. These bonuses would need to be rejected if it can be proven that the workers suffered pay decreases or decreases in benefits for the sake of the profit margin.  

I know these ideas will throw a lot of people into an uproar, but I, in the spirit of my founding fathers, would be more than happy to pay my dutiful amount of taxes to my country. Benjamin Franklin states in his autobiography that serving his country in office was an honor for which he did not expect to be paid. He would be outraged at the wages we now pay our government to vote against our best interests. Franklin would be ashamed of many of our elected officials.