My Debt Ceiling Solution

[rwoy]

Enough bull****.  Here's my start.  Give me some more ideas.

• Cut ALL government funding to Oil Companies
• Cut ALL Defense Research Projects -- across the board, no more research on bigger guns -- a 3 year moratorium on DoD Research Projects
• Gay Marriage Legalized in ALL states -- this will raise tax revenues
• No More Wasting Money on Stupid things like a Blue Angels fly over at a sporting event
• Tax the $45 Billion in remittances illegals send out of the country annually at a 25% rate

[Fritz]

Enough bull****.  Here's my start.  Give me some more ideas.

• Cut ALL government funding to Oil Companies
• Cut ALL Defense Research Projects -- across the board, no more research on bigger guns -- a 3 year moratorium on DoD Research Projects
• Gay Marriage Legalized in ALL states -- this will raise tax revenues
• No More Wasting Money on Stupid things like a Blue Angels fly over at a sporting event
• Tax the $45 Billion in remittances illegals send out of the country annually at a 25% rate

You forgot legalising marijuana.

[rwoy]

Ok, I'm good with that.

[RIP Robert H Bork]

Here's what I think of your suggestions:

Enough bull****.  Here's my start.  Give me some more ideas.

• Cut ALL government funding to Oil Companies

Agreed, but strike out 'oil'.

• Cut ALL Defense Research Projects -- across the board, no more research on bigger guns -- a 3 year moratorium on DoD Research Projects

I might be moved to support cuts, but flatly eliminating all defense research projects, probably not.

• Gay Marriage Legalized in ALL states -- this will raise tax revenues

NO!

• No More Wasting Money on Stupid things like a Blue Angels fly over at a sporting event

Yes!

• Tax the $45 Billion in remittances illegals send out of the country annually at a 25% rate

[rwoy]

Senator SayNoToRomney, how about we amend the the first point and say we cut all government funding to all companies earning reporting more than $50 million in revenue for a fiscal year?

The DoD research has to be cut across the board BECAUSE the DoD will never agree on WHAT they should cut.  Just this year they are wasting $53 BILLION on just 15 programs.  $11 BILLION of that on the F-35 (which is simply not needed).

And as for Gay Marriage ... who cares that it makes you feel yucky inside!  If you don't like it then don't participate in it.  It WILL raise tax revenues.  Get over yourself.  Some people find oral sex "yucky" but they aren't making it illegal!

[KEmperor]

Ok, I'll bite.  How exactly will legalizing gay marriage increase tax revenues?

[Bacon King]

Ok, I'll bite.  How exactly will legalizing gay marriage increase tax revenues?

I'm assuming he's talking about the bit of additional revenue that would come from a bunch of new couples filing taxes jointly and facing the marriage penalty? Or possibly the pittance of fees state governments will collect from the new marriage licenses?

I'm in favor of gay marriage, of course, but I don't see how a fiscal argument makes much sense at all. 

[RI]

Congrats on five suggestions that accomplish absolutely nothing.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

While these aren't the worst ideas, they would do little for to solve the immediate debt ceiling problem.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Ok, I'll bite.  How exactly will legalizing gay marriage increase tax revenues?

I'm assuming he's talking about the bit of additional revenue that would come from a bunch of new couples filing taxes jointly and facing the marriage penalty? Or possibly the pittance of fees state governments will collect from the new marriage licenses?

I'm in favor of gay marriage, of course, but I don't see how a fiscal argument makes much sense at all. 

Indeed, it makes no sense at all.  There are a whole set of tax advantages that accrue to being a married couple instead of two single people.  If the Federal government were to recognize gay marriage, tax revenue would actually go down.

[Torie]

Enough bull****.  Here's my start.  Give me some more ideas.

• Cut ALL government funding to Oil Companies
• Cut ALL Defense Research Projects -- across the board, no more research on bigger guns -- a 3 year moratorium on DoD Research Projects
• Gay Marriage Legalized in ALL states -- this will raise tax revenues
• No More Wasting Money on Stupid things like a Blue Angels fly over at a sporting event
• Tax the $45 Billion in remittances illegals send out of the country annually at a 25% rate

Somehow that list does not add up to 4 trillion in my mind.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Well you see Torie, you factor in the reduced spending from the wars and trim down on projected increases in spending and accross 10 years, I am sure even that worthless stuff can look like a 4 trillion smackers cut in the deficit.

[rwoy]

Ok, I'll bite.  How exactly will legalizing gay marriage increase tax revenues?

I'm assuming you've never gotten married.  It costs a lot.  The wedding industry generates an INSANE amount of money.  Now I'm not sure if you are aware of this or not but a large # of gay men could be considered to be "flamboyant" and, therefore, highly likely to spend big on a lavish wedding.

And honestly the tax benefits of "being married" are actually quite miniscule.

[rwoy]

Enough bull****.  Here's my start.  Give me some more ideas.

• Cut ALL government funding to Oil Companies
• Cut ALL Defense Research Projects -- across the board, no more research on bigger guns -- a 3 year moratorium on DoD Research Projects
• Gay Marriage Legalized in ALL states -- this will raise tax revenues
• No More Wasting Money on Stupid things like a Blue Angels fly over at a sporting event
• Tax the $45 Billion in remittances illegals send out of the country annually at a 25% rate

Somehow that list does not add up to 4 trillion in my mind.

Nope, it just gives us a few extra billion.  But if you read carefully you wil note that I'm saying that this is a START.  And I asked for other ideas.

Hey, maybe we could do nothing about it and hope it goes away.

[Dancing with Myself]

Congrats on five suggestions that accomplish absolutely nothing.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Enough bull****.  Here's my start.  Give me some more ideas.

• Cut ALL government funding to Oil Companies
• Cut ALL Defense Research Projects -- across the board, no more research on bigger guns -- a 3 year moratorium on DoD Research Projects
• Gay Marriage Legalized in ALL states -- this will raise tax revenues
• No More Wasting Money on Stupid things like a Blue Angels fly over at a sporting event
• Tax the $45 Billion in remittances illegals send out of the country annually at a 25% rate

Somehow that list does not add up to 4 trillion in my mind.

Nope, it just gives us a few extra billion.  But if you read carefully you wil note that I'm saying that this is a START.  And I asked for other ideas.

Hey, maybe we could do nothing about it and hope it goes away.

Torie has hardly preposed to do nothing. He has gone in depth in the past on how entitlements should be reformed for one. Something both sides have appearently decided to avoid touching at all for political reasons in Washington DC.

His starting point is far higher then yours.

[rwoy]

Enough bull****.  Here's my start.  Give me some more ideas.

• Cut ALL government funding to Oil Companies
• Cut ALL Defense Research Projects -- across the board, no more research on bigger guns -- a 3 year moratorium on DoD Research Projects
• Gay Marriage Legalized in ALL states -- this will raise tax revenues
• No More Wasting Money on Stupid things like a Blue Angels fly over at a sporting event
• Tax the $45 Billion in remittances illegals send out of the country annually at a 25% rate

Somehow that list does not add up to 4 trillion in my mind.

Nope, it just gives us a few extra billion.  But if you read carefully you wil note that I'm saying that this is a START.  And I asked for other ideas.

Hey, maybe we could do nothing about it and hope it goes away.

Torie has hardly preposed to do nothing. He has gone in depth in the past on how entitlements should be reformed for one. Something both sides have appearently decided to avoid touching at all for political reasons in Washington DC.

His starting point is far higher then yours.

Ah ... ok, so he could have detailed those suggestions, simply provided a link, or even made a passing reference that somewhere on the thousands of threads on this site he put forward some ideas.  But he didn't.  Instead he and others just say "well, your ideas do nothing".

Perhaps they are right, perhaps my initial 5 ideas are the equivalent of throwing a deck chair off the Titanic.  But at least I'm throwing the deck chair.  All I see in their comments are mindless criticism (likely because I'm proposing a cut or 2 that they don't like).

[GMantis]

• Tax the $45 Billion in remittances illegals send out of the country annually at a 25% rate

How will remittances from illegals be taxed?

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Enough bull****.  Here's my start.  Give me some more ideas.

• Cut ALL government funding to Oil Companies
• Cut ALL Defense Research Projects -- across the board, no more research on bigger guns -- a 3 year moratorium on DoD Research Projects
• Gay Marriage Legalized in ALL states -- this will raise tax revenues
• No More Wasting Money on Stupid things like a Blue Angels fly over at a sporting event
• Tax the $45 Billion in remittances illegals send out of the country annually at a 25% rate

This would get us, what, 0.1% of the way there? There are only two real solutions: raising taxes or raising the debt ceiling. Period. Talking about cutting waste is cool, and we absolutely should take a look at our spending priorities, but there's simply no way to spending cut our way out of this. It's window dressing for a house that's currently on fire.

[rwoy]

Again, as I said, my suggestion was a start.  Look, raising the debt ceiling is necessary ... no question about it.  But that alone isn't going to solve the problem because eventually we will need to raise the ceiling again.  So we need to raise taxes.  But that TOO is only a temporary solution because eventually we will just raise taxes to the point in which we cripple the economy.  So in the long-term we need to looking at cuts.

So ... I know there are a lot of you who want to say "your suggestions are crap because they are too small" or to say that I don't understand the scope of the problem ... but I'm here to tell you that if you think just raising the debt ceiling and raising taxes will fix the problem then clearly YOU don't understand the problem.

Look, it is easy to criticize.  I'm not pretending to have all the answers, but if you criticize me without an alternative suggestion you are a flaming idiot.