What will it take?

According to the Pew Report, there is no one solution that will eliminate the National Debt.  Right now, it totals about 70% of every dollar made, spent of the US National GDP.  here are their views on what it will take to cure our debt problems:

• It would take a 43 percent reduction in discretionary spending, a cut of about $590 billion, a figure roughly equivalent to eliminating the Department of Defense.
• Spending on entitlement programs such as Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid and certain veterans’ benefits would have to be cut by 22 percent. That means that in 2015, the average Social Security beneficiary would receive $985 per month, rather than $1,255.
• It would take a 32 percent hike in individual income-tax revenues to achieve the 60 percent goal in 2025. That means that the average income-tax liability for every man, woman and child in the U.S. would be $6,520 in 2015 instead of $4,955.
• Relying just on economic growth, without tax increases or spending cuts, to solve the fiscal problem would require unprecedented productivity gains. In particular, inflation adjusted GDP would have to grow by an average of 4.1 percent annually, instead of the 2.1 percent forecast by the Congressional Budget Office. Such a change would be tantamount to more than doubling America’s productivity growth.

The one thing they warn about is doing drastic things right now in a recession is just bad for everyone.  We need to turn things around a little and then tackle it head on.  

Hot here in the heartland.  Get out early and rest once the heat gets above 95.  My version of rest includes naps.  


MUD