218 + 60 + 1….math of the budget deficit
To solve the deficit, the numbers add up – but not the votes Ezra Klein
The sudden proliferation of deficit-reduction plans is a reminder that the deficit is, at its heart, a math problem. To get the budget into “primary balance” in 2015 – that’s wonk-speak for a balanced budget before interest payments, and it’s the target everyone is trying to hit – we need $225 billion in savings and new revenue. And you know what? That’s not so hard.
You get there by adding taxes and subtracting spending. As the differences between the various plans suggest, there are a lot of ways to do that. Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, the Bipartisan Policy Center, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and the conservative Americans for Tax Reform all have their own proposals, with their own unique mixes of policy suggestions.
Resolving the deficit, however, requires a different sort of math. The equation is almost insultingly simple: 218 + 60 + 1. That’s a majority in the House plus a supermajority in the Senate (though you could do this through budget reconciliation, meaning you only need a majority) plus a signature from the president. This math problem, however, is almost impossible to solve. That’s because the politicians don’t agree, and perhaps more important, neither do the people.
the people don’t agree because the only thing they “know” are the lies of the politicians.
the politicians don’t agree because they can make big money by lying to the people.
and ezra klein has shown that he reallyt doesn’t understand the social security question… calling for a payroll tax holiday because “SS is a jobs killing tax.”
funny, last time out it was “really the workers money.” a lie for all seasons… actually, a new lie for the new season.
“The sudden proliferation of deficit-reduction plans is a reminder that the deficit is, at its heart, a math problem. To get the budget into “primary balance” in 2015 – that’s wonk-speak for a balanced budget before interest payments, and it’s the target everyone is trying to hit – we need $225 billion in savings and new revenue. And you know what? That’s not so hard.
“You get there by adding taxes and subtracting spending.”
That’s a myopic view. How about getting there by goosing the economy? 🙂
Is counter-cyclical policy a difficult idea?
min
no. but they forgot the counter cyclic aspect of it for a few turns of the wheel, and now it is not certain that the counter cyclic still works. i’d invest in job creation, but i don’t think i’d just throw spending, or worse, tax cuts, at it.
btw
the deficit is , at heart, a human problem or a political problem. it is not a math problem. people who say it is know nothing about politics, or math.
A balance budget by a certain date is stupid. Balance over the long run business cycle in the perfect world. Dreamer!!!