Personally, I am not sure I have an answer to this, but I am curious what ideas members on this site, would offer?

I will contribute once I have more time to look into to it.

But my own inclination, is that taxes are going to have to be increased, where else will this money come from??

I suppose many "conservatives" on this site, will say cut social programs, but umm those have been cut so much, and really that is not what has caused us to be in this insane situation?

Personally, if I was a billionaire, I would be more than willing to pay MUCH higher taxes to off set the debt, but then perhaps that is why am NOT a billionaire

My wheels in my head are spinning.
May I suggest some politically incorrect ideas?

We could sell the US Government to the Saudi Arabians...

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Originally posted by Gnarlodious:
We could sell the US Government to the Saudi Arabians...

Interesting thinking outside the box. But honestly, who do you think wants a bloated inefficient bureaucracy? All it does it spread red ink around.

I am thinking more along the lines that we tax those things we do not like, that is create disincentives for "bad behavior". Like I will be the first to suggest that we tax homeless people more. And people that have over the 10 items limit line with 2 weeks of groceries. And people sneezing or coughing in salad lines. Go ahead you must have some suggestions...

Hey meljomur-

I havent thought this through completely but I think there should be an accurate inventory of every acre and property owned by the federal Gov.(by the way, that would be us the citizens).
National landmarks and parks as well as plant and animal preserves and other designated sensitive regions would be protected and not included of course. Designated/acceptable areas would become available for public auction.
Bidding would be restricted to individual citizens only.

Like I mentioned, I havent completely thought this through however it seems there must be tens of millions of acres that could generate alot of revenue. At the same time this could contribute to a shift in the demographics of the population away from the decaying urban landscapes.

There could be restriction on the development of these newly offered land tracts and properties. Only "green" energy and "green" building practices would be allowed. All agriculture would be limited to organic. Even the operation of farm equipment would be limited to renewable energy sources.

Kinda fantasy thinking outside the box but that's what is needed IMHO.

Hold on, you guys.

There is really no reason to be especially concerned about the debt. Remember under Clinton they projected that the debt would disappear?

All you have to do is, ironically, raise a bit of taxes, cut defense spending, make a small surplus if the economy is doing well, and the debt will take care of itself. In other words, have a rational budget policy that makes your economy grow, is consistent with low inflation and hence low interest rates. If the economy grows like it did under Clinton, the debt will soon be gone or shrink to a insignificant size.

The debt is only a problem because of the interest payments we pay - which are like 300 billion a year, a real small amount compared to the 9 trillion debt. We can afford to pay off the debt slowly.

The debt may also become a big problem if people start becoming afraid of the US dollar, i.e., elect idiots like George Bush, but that is another problem.

Doctor, and I hope you're a doctor of economics, a question and observation.

Clinton presided over the "new economy" when tech start ups were responsible for much of the good news in the economy. At the end of his term when the new economy, which was really a house of cards, collapsed, we sunk into recession.

Does it make sense to look at the Clinton model of raising taxes in a strong economy which was caused by a paradigm shift in the private sector as a solid model for every economic climate?

The government is now collecting revenue at record rates and the deficit is shrinking. Every sign in Iraq points to troop reductions next year. If we stop sinking money in that sand pit, why does it make sense to change what is working regarding fiscal policy?

Well, I think your wrong about the Clinton expansion - it was broad based and had ironically little to do with the tech boom. I looked at the numbers and the tech sector - although growing really fast, was a small part of the economy and had little to do with all the positive indicators then. Or perhaps it had something to do with it but they were badly measured.

At any rate, this is a bit of moot point, since the question is should we raise taxes? I think the issue is difficult and complex - too complex for such a venue as this one. I would say that it would be very important to reinforce expectations that the government is committed to balancing its budget, and that it is very important to have sensible budget policy. Perhaps if we had a better history of paying off our debt, I would agree with you. Another factor to consider is the huge Medicare liabilities that we should begin to pay down, and we need to make changes in Social Security (which we don't seem to be doing). As for the Iraq war, Turkey just voted to send troops across the boarder - so things might get much worse before we ever withdraw.

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Sawdust: The government is now collecting revenue at record rates and the deficit is shrinking. Every sign in Iraq points to troop reductions next year. If we stop sinking money in that sand pit, why does it make sense to change what is working regarding fiscal policy?

I look at it as why should Fiscal Policy differ from Monetary? Of course Monetary is much more responsive and Fiscal Policies already have built in counter cyclical aspects, but I see the Fed tightening up interest rates since 2004 and thus they see inflation as a concern more than economic growth. So the way I see it is that maybe Fiscal policy should be more restrictive especially in overheated markets at the present time.

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Like I will be the first to suggest that we tax homeless people more.

Ron,

How many times do I have to tell you not to chase that White Rabbit down the hole?

I definately concur with Dr Econ, everything he says makes sense, but I'm pissed that the conservatives always run up a huge national debt by shoveling tons of money from the treasury into their friends pockets, then they hand the reins of government to the liberals, with big grins on their faces and say "Have fun!"

Hi Bill, did you read the whole post?
But don't you have some suggestions for things you would like to have less of?

Ok, Ok, maybe not homeless people but people that carry around homeless signs expecting to get paid for nothing.

For my next suggestion, I think we should tax people that wear Birkenstock shoes and live in the mountains more money. Oh, and anyone that hands out Marxists fliers about how Horowitz is a Fascist pig that then say that "30% of college instructors are Marxists".

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Ok, Ok, maybe not homeless people but people that carry around homeless signs expecting to get paid for nothing.

Yeah, I can't stand those slugs that stand on corners with cardboard signs, saying "Will work for food" It's a scam and those people use the money on drugs and alcohol. Truly needy people can get food and shelter in our society without begging on the street.

I think the bottom line is, no matter how many ideas we may have it is the next generation (and the one after that) who are going to pay dearly for this debt.
I would gladly pay higher taxes now, to offset this being passed off to the future generation, however I don't believe most want to pay more in tax, so instead we should just shut down all non-profit government expenditure.
So really we don't even need government anymore, I mean if this US government were a corporation, it would have gone under a while ago.

quote:

We could sell the US Government to the Saudi Arabians...

We've been doing that since Roosevelt was in office.

quote:

I definately concur with Dr Econ, everything he says makes sense, but I'm pissed that the conservatives always run up a huge national debt by shoveling tons of money from the treasury into their friends pockets, then they hand the reins of government to the liberals, with big grins on their faces and say "Have fun!"

And I'm pissed off at the tax and spend liberals that expect those of us who work our asses off to pay for the deadbeats who lay around with their hands out.

Neither party truly gives a damn about we, the people. It's all about pandering for votes.