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Budget Debate: Auguring Less Space

The U.S. Census reports that 46% of Americans (300 million plus of us) receive some sort of federal benefit, according to Paul Samuelson in his Washington Post column this week. We’re not just talking Social Security, Medicare, and food stamps, but also tax breaks like mortgage interest deductions, not to mention significant corporate tax breaks (hello GE and Goldman Sachs).

By Jonathan D. Miller | Updated on April 11, 2011

The U.S. Census reports that 46% of Americans (300 million plus of us) receive some sort of federal benefit, according to Paul Samuelson in his Washington Post column this week. We’re not just talking Social Security, Medicare, and food stamps, but also tax breaks like mortgage interest deductions, not to mention significant corporate tax breaks (hello GE and Goldman Sachs).

 In the wake of finalizing the 2011 federal budget, the country begins to come to grips with reducing government spending and realizing that means ultimately losing some very real personal economic benefits. Politicians start talking about how we need to live within our means. But in the early jockeying, we see Republicans ready to hack only at social programs and reduce taxes further—a zero sum game; and Democrats willing to make surgical cuts and raise taxes on the rich, not making much of a dent either. No politician wants to help the country face its ugly reality—to pay off our debts (government and personal), we will need to downscale our lifestyles and become much more efficient (code for conserve). But then all politicians want to get re-elected so you get more lame rhetoric about how cutting taxes increases jobs— well not unless you take the credit card out, the disastrous way we’ve been doing it for the last 30 years.

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