[virgil]

It looks like we should be cutting defense spending too, but Ryan didn’t want to do that. We could cut costs of unemployment, food stamps and whatever other forms of relief by just putting people back to work and growing the market of good paying jobs. What R/R needs to do is to have a jobs plan, and right now, not after the election. This chart says that 41% of revenue comes from individual income tax. They’ll need that revenue to cut the deficit. Jobs!

[kabar]

Shouldn't our defense expenditures be based on existential threats and the protection of our national interests? I have no problem in making defense cuts as long as they make sense and not just part of a number crunching, across the board exercise. The National Defense is one of the primary responsibilties of the federal government and arguably the most important. It should be noted that defense is already taking big cuts under the Obama administration. Sequestration looms as a possibility for even further cuts.

We could cut costs of unemployment, food stamps and whatever other forms of relief by just putting people back to work and growing the market of good paying jobs.

So exactly how do we do that? Why are we bringing in 1.2 million LEGAL IMMIGRANTS a year into this country? 57% of immigrant headed households are on welfare. We also have guest worker programs (temporary work visas) that bring in millions more.

What R/R needs to do is to have a jobs plan, and right now, not after the election. This chart says that 41% of revenue comes from individual income tax. They’ll need that revenue to cut the deficit. Jobs!

The private sector creates jobs. What the government needs to do is to create the environment for the private sector to create jobs. That said, it won't be easy. We have some structural problems in this country along with the growing difficulty to be competitive in the global economy. China and India can produce just as educated a workforce and they have access to the highest technology in terms of manufacturing and production.

One big difference is wages and benefits, which are cheaper in the emerging economies. And there is less environmental regulation and taxation. We will need to create a more welcoming enviornment for business and to exploit our advantages in the production of cheap domestic energy.

And even if we increase revenue, we need to curtail the welfare state. Otherwise the increased revenue will be sucked into the welfare vortex and just increase our deficits.