this is a problem for republicans. they make big noise about balancing the budget but when details of how it would have to be done americans reject it. âDonât tax you. Donât tax me. Tax that fellow behind the tree.â Nearly 70% of Americans say cutting the deficit is an important goal for 2012, with 84% Republicans, 66% Democrats, and 64% Independents rating it as their top priority. These folks are happy to slash spending and raise taxes â only theoretically. Asked about specific programs, wide majorities almost always favor either increasing spending or maintaining the current level, as the following chart from Pew shows: http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/0...ograms/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter On education, for instance, 62 percent favor increases and 25 percent favor maintaining the current level. More than 90 percent favor either an increased level or the current level of spending on veteranâs benefits; and more than 80 percent favor increasing levels or maintaining the current level on college financial aid, public school spending, Medicare, and Social Security. The only program that even gains a plurality of support for reduced spending levels is aid to the worldâs needy. Among those with less than a high school education the median estimate was that foreign aid represented an extraordinary 45 percent of the budget, those with only a high school diploma 25 percent, those with some college at 20 percent. However, even those with a college degree or higher still overestimate by a wide margin, with a median estimate of 15 percent of the budget.â The actual percentage at least in 2010 â less than 1%.
No doubt true but it represents a failure on the part of republicnas to educate people. Gingrich had a point when he criticized Paul Ryan for coming out with a bold budget program without preparing the foundation before hand. Ron Paul and various conservative think tanks have propsed large budget cuts that would hardly affect us. Pull out of these ridiculous overseas military adventures. Terminate the Departments of Education, HUD, Commerce, Labor, etc. Cut all pork like rail projects and bridges to nowhere. Cut foreign aid, particularly to the middle east. There are trillions in savings out there, all without raising taxes.
That's how it works of course. The good news is that our government is not that large (by comparison with existing governments, not imagined governments). Edit: nearly left this out, the other part of the goods news is that our taxes are fairly low (again, by comparison with existing governments, not imagined governments).
I would say cut education. The last thing you want to cut is programs that help the disabled or the elderly. We spend way to much on education. Look at the show "are you smarter than a 5th grader" Almost everyone that goes on that show doesnt know the answers that these kids are learning now. That is strong evidence that we are spending billions on useless education. Most people forget everything they learned in school, and schools are really just glorified daycares now. The only subjects people should be required to learn are excellent reading, writing, and math skills. Dump alot of that other stuff and make parents pay if they want their kids to learn history, science, home economics, P.E. and all that stuff. But for those of you that disagree, what do you think is going to happen if they increase the budget? Lets say education gets 3 times what they get now. What are they going to spend it on? Increased salaries for teacher and maybe dump some more classes on these kids and really give them alot of homework. Maybe they will start teaching philosophy, piano, and my favorite "self-esteem" classes where they tell the kids that they are special and deserve the best, just because they are them. Throwing money at education doesnt help. If your kid had a tutor and he is getting Cs in school, you think by raising the tutors pay by $2 per hour is going to make your kid smarter? Its not.
You are an idiot. I'm very much for education. I'm just against spending EVERYONEs money on education that will not be used by the majority of people when they graduate. For instance...did you know that some of the stuff kids are learning in elementary are things like "Polar bears wont eat penguins" and "the ostrich is the fastest bird on land" Does anyone need their 6 year old to know what a castanet is and how to play it? Or teaching what part of the flower pollen is made in? This is the crap that you are paying in taxes for ALL kids to learn. You all learned this is school...do any of you use it? (or remember it?)
No need for the Federal Govt to have an education dept. 95% of the cost is covered at the state level. Jimmy Carter made the dept just to get more control and more union govt employees
Teachers unions and politicians assume that educational outcomes are directly related to how much money is spent on education. In fact, there is little to no correlation. Most of the money spent now on education is basically wasted. Wasted on armies of administrators and counselors. Wasted on endless retraining of teachers in the latest educational fads. Wasted on lavish union benefits. Wasted on extravagant school buildings and athletic facilities. The biggest waste is wasting money on thugs who are either incapable of learning much beyond the basics or are determined to ruin the learning environment for everyone else. Of course, liberals will instinctively force the vast majority to suffer in their endless quest to pander to the dysfunctional. Public education has basically failed, at least in most urban areas. No parent who sincerely wants their kids to succeed will risk leaving them in govenrment schools in most major cities. Even radical socialist and egalitarian obama sends his two daughters to a pricey private school. I'm guessing that school charges upwards of $40,000 a year for elementary school kids.
Actually, we've got a pretty good ROI on education. Outcomes: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-10-most-educated-countries-in-the-world.html Spending: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/edu_edu_spe-education-spending-of-gdp
this is the difference between the left and the right. ricter says we are low tax...but refuses to acknowledge are taxes are massive when you add them up. Obamacare tax... plus... http://thekitchencabinet.us/2011/10/15/2012-list-of-taxes-in-america/ Accounts Receivable Tax Building Permit Tax Capital Gains Tax CDL license Tax Cigarette Tax Corporate Income Tax Court Fines (indirect taxes) Dog License Tax Federal Income Tax Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA) Fishing License Tax Food License Tax Fuel permit tax Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon) Hunting License Tax Inheritance Tax Interest expense (tax on the money) Inventory tax IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax) IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax) Liquor Tax Local Income Tax Luxury Taxes Marriage License Tax Medicare Tax Property Tax Real Estate Tax Septic Permit Tax Service Charge Taxes Social Security Tax Road Usage Taxes (Truckers) Sales Taxes Recreational Vehicle Tax Road Toll Booth Taxes School Tax State Income Tax State Unemployment Tax (SUTA) Telephone federal excise tax Telephone federal universal service fee tax Telephone federal, state and local surcharge taxes Telephone minimum usage surcharge tax Telephone recurring and non-recurring charges tax Telephone state and local tax Telephone usage charge tax Toll Bridge Taxes Toll Tunnel Taxes Traffic Fines (indirect taxation) Trailer Registration Tax Utility Taxes Vehicle License Registration Tax Vehicle Sales Tax Watercraft Registration Tax Well Permit Tax Workers Compensation Tax ---- Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago!â