See this article: http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/01/27/borger.obama.deficit/index.html
The first two paragraphs really hit home for me. Especially this part: " any pollster will tell you that while people always say they want the deficit fixed, they never believe they're part of the problem. So they won't hear of reducing Medicare and Social Security, which amount to nearly a third of the domestic budget. That kinda rules out any serious discussion." It suggests that as Americans, we are only interested in solving our deficit problem if it is done at the expense of others. Its kind of like the prison dilemma: A lot of folks think we need newer, better prisons, as long as they arent in their hometowns and they dont have to pay for it. We have passed the buck far too often in this country and that attitude has become central to the problem at hand. Its easy to lecture others on what they need to do to fix the deficit problem, its quite another to admit that they are just as much to blame, and accept that they have to make sacrifices too. Government needs to quit wasting time and accept that there is NO good answer. Fixing the deficit will be painful, but necessary. Just like a root canal. It sucks, nobody wants one, but in the end you have to do it, you deal with the pain and move on.
The first two paragraphs really give the reader a glimpse of the political and fiscal quagmire that the president is facing. This article goes back to our class discussion of polarization. No matter what Obama does, a large group of people will be angry since we are losing our middle ground. There are some serious comments and value judgments to be made about what should be cut more, education or medicare and medicaid.
ReplyDeleteHopefully Obama's five-year plan to freeze non-security discretionary government spending will be a step in the right direction. Many people will be unhappy as services are cut but as we learned in class, there will always be unhappy people when you are offering a public good due to a market failure.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to be a case of not in my backyard, as Richard said. I think it would be great to reformulate the social security et all standards. Move back the 1965 and set more realistic goals.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ashley, no matter what Obama does in regards to government spending it's going to be in favor of some people and not others. However these issues clearly need to be addressed, so lets start addressing them now and deal with the people who are pissed. I believe making any cut in government spending today is better than everyone debating about who this will negatively affect tomorrow.
ReplyDelete"Meantime, you've got Republicans threatening to shut down the government and vote against extending the debt ceiling. And you've got Democrats yelping that the government is putting the social safety net in jeopardy."
ReplyDeleteIs this how it is going to be forever? It seems like one side will be blaming the other and vice versa until the end of time. Is there an actual decision that is a compromise to both parties or will there always be bickering back and forth?
Everything in this world comes at a price. If you want to fix a financial problem you've got to be willing to give something up to do so. That intro paragraph basically nails that point home. We as a people want change to happen, but aren't exactly welcoming the necessary sacrifices, and neither are our Congressman.
ReplyDeleteThe political analyst in the article mentioned how cutting discretionary income is not enough and that it might be necessary for the government to consider dealing with Medicare and Social Security; but, what about defense spending? She never mentioned this. I do not understand why defense spending wouldn't be an area up for question for reductions. I don't know much about this area, but I think that if the government even slightly cut back in defense spending, it could drastically help lower the budget deficit considering how much money goes toward defense overall.
ReplyDeleteThat's also one of the things I have noticed. Cutting back on defense spending has never really come up as an option. It seems ridiculous to me that with the country facing such fiscal difficulties, the Govt., is considering cutting back welfare than to even think about cutting some defense spending.
ReplyDeleteThe US has had a military edge over the world for a while now and its not going to go anytime soon. With the American public so sick of fighting these foreign wars, it is time the government readdress its priorities.
It's kind of uneasy for me to think of cutting back on our military expense.. I understand that we spend a rediculous amount of money in that department, but national security is one of the most important aspects of being American and just the thought of being less protected than is feasibly possible seems hard to buy into.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Obama is in the position that referees are in, especially in basketball.. When he makes a call, half (if he's lucky) of the nation will agree and like him and half will be extremely upset