How quickly should the Democrats attempt to cut the budget deficit?

[kentuck]

If the Repubs can run us in a hole by 4 trillion, surely the Democrats can spend 2 trillion on whatever they want? Universal healthcare. Guaranteed income for every American. Free college education. Surely they can find something worthwhile other than the military industrial complex? Would the Republicans have the gall to criticize the Democrats for huge deficits? How quick should the Democrats cut the deficit?

[aquart]

1. How long does it take to pass a fifty percent tax on fortunes over ten million?

That's how long.

[eleny]

2. Snaps!

[leftofthedial]

6. universal healthcare

93% tax on the uberwealthy

immediate withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan and immediate end to that budgetary cesspool.

those three things would trigger a bigger economic boom than the 90's.

[On the Road]

9. Back in 1999,

it would have taken a one-time tax of 14% on all personal assets over $10 million to retire the national debt. That was going to be part of Donald Trump's platform if he ran. Now it would probably be 20%. Do that and you only have to tinker with income taxes to balance the budget and provide universal health care.

[dave_p]

3. Easy cut

Cut the next allocation for the Iraq debacle by... oh, 100%.

Cut military expansion by the same until someone's in charge who isn't a dumb fundie psycho or grovelling neocon clone.

Then spend what needs spending. And tax what needs taxing.

[illinoisprogressive]

4. It's gonna take a very long time.

the amount of interest to pay per day is astounding. Couple that with the debt and the running of a country and you have some big bucks to spend.
It's always easier to spend yourself into bankruptcy than to dig out.
And to put things like new orleans back together again, and all the programs that have been forgotten in the past 6 years and the raping of the environmental programs and the environment, ect. ect.
And the stupid american people who are not willing to do thier part by paying in taxes to pay for all this.
Oh, it's going to take a very long time.

[babylonsister]

5. First things first. Stop The War; that's what Americans want. Then

apply diplomacy to assuage the damage the blivet has wrought. There are so many needs in this country that need to be dealt with otherwise, I don't know where to start.

[Old and In the Way]

7. A 50% reduction in Defense spending along with a rollback on taxcuts

should go a long way in getting the deficit fixed in a few years. Start addressing an energy strategy that gets us off our dependence on ME oil and starts investing in alternative/renewable technologies that promote a decentralized energy infrastructure which will create jobs and stimulate the economy would be a great 2nd act.

[AlGore-08.com]

8. They should attempt to cut it immediately, with a plan to eliminate it over years

The deficit is extremely harmful to the economy. Reducing the deficit is nearly as important as getting the h@ll out of Iraq and fighting global warming.

Does anybody else remember that back in 2000, Gore had a plan for completely eliminating the deficit by 2012 - - but still had enough money in the budget to fund a marshall plan to combat global warming AND publicly fund all political campaigns?

[G Hawes]

10. Better to cut the deficit than

and deliver a plan to eliminate it rather than run it up trillions more. It isn't about Republicans not being in a position to criticize but about Democrats having a better plan and being able to carry it out to fix the problems that the Bush administration has wrought. It's not about saying, "na na na na boo boo" but about being better than them.

[pa28]

11. Those trillions would have paid for a bonanza of social programs.

College tuitions, universal health care, job training, infrastructure . . .

Sadly, the money is already blown and we have no more to spend. We need to begin filling the hole because we are already facing insolvency according to the comptroller general. The adults are back in charge and, as usual, it is up to us to clean the mess.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/10/28/191542.shtml?s=lh (linking here for the sake of irony only)

[GreenTea]

12. It means raising taxes on the rich and guess what the republicans & media are

going to say...See the Dem's are raising your taxes again...though it won't be true, just on the corporations and rich to pay their fair share...But...thatll be their tactic...It's ALL the Dem's fault...it must be done...very tough for the Dem's.