Ways to cut the Deficit

With everyone shouting about the national deficit, I would think that all these folks would be entusiastic about any method that would pare down the deficit. sure they are...as long as it doesn't raise texes, affect that person specifically or cut obligated programs. Easy right?

How about this...in 2003 President Bush and the Republican congress passed a new prescription plan for senior citizens that amounts to $100 million per year. The problem is that this new obligation was never funded by Congress, meaning that each year we add $100 million to the deficit. There is a small co-pay for senior citizens that participate in the program, about 50 million people.

Instead of cutting the program, increase the co-pay by just $1. The new program pays for over 300 million prescriptions per year. By raising the co-pay $1, the program will pay for itself and produce a surplus of $200 million per year that could be applied to the deficit. Over a 10 year period that amounts to $2 billion placed on the deficit.

Each year, Americans are allowed to deduct interests paid on all types of loans (cars, homes, education, etc). We are the only country that collects taxes and allows this type of deduction. A typical year finds Americans claiming over $30 billion of interest on their annual income taxes. If we only permitted 50% of loan interest to be claimed on annual income taxes, we would have an additional $15 billion per year to service our national deficit. Over 10 years, that's another $150 billion.

Raise the retirement agr for Social Security from 65 to 70. Most Americans in this age bracket are counting solely on Social Security for their golden years, yet the money is running out fast. By raising the minimum retirement age, Social Security wold remain solvent for another 75 years, saving the government almost $50 billion per year.

Though people will bitch and scream about any change to a government program, we have to be realistic about the future of our country and real fixes. My suggestions will not cost the government more, won't cause any tax increases and will pare down the deficit in a manageable fashion with the least amount of damages to the populace.