What are necessary government operations

Reader comment on: Bloomberg Flops Back

Submitted by ben (United States), Sep 13, 2010 21:02

You are right, the real debate is over the role of government. If we agree that Government shouldn't make a habit of running trillion dollar deficits, then at some point revenue has to equal spending. The question is what is the role of government? I would argue that government should be a safety net that guarantees basic services such as education, defense and health care. These things are very expensive. If we want revenues to equal spending, we must tax accordingly. The share of the national income of the wealthiest has risen faster than other income groups. To balance our budget, the wealthiest should have higher taxes (I would prefer additional tax brackets to the solutions currently on the table).

With the exception of Paul Ryan's plan, the Republicans rarely suggest cuts on the order of what will be necessary to balance a budget. Ending earmarks is laughable in its scale. One has to drastically cut social security, defense and medicare to dent the deficit. What is it Republicans? Should the elderly eat catfood into their golden years? Should our grandparents forgo their heart medications? Should we end our wars abroad?

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