It's all about priorities.

[kentuck]

With all the hand-wringing about debt and deficits, it is good to keep it in perspective. America can always find the money when we need it. It all boils down to what we want to spend the money on. What are our priorities? All the talk about cutting Medicare and Social Security only shows that these programs are not priorities for some people.

However, we can find a trillion dollars per year to spend on our military and on numerous wars around the globe. As someone noted in another thread, there is no fund to pay for this defense budget but they still find the money every year. Why? Because they have decided it is a priority. It is in our national defense, they say. As if taking care of our sick and elderly is not in our national interest?

But, you must have a fund that pays for these programs. If the "fund" goes broke, we have to cut the program. It is not a priority.

Or if the Big Banks get themselves in a pickle and there is no one to save them but the government of the United States, they can find trillions of dollars to save them. That is a priority. There is no rainy day fund for them to draw from, not like Medicare and Social Security. Why do we treat these entities differently? Because Medicare is not a priority.

We need to look at our priorities in a different way, in my opinion. If you want to spend a trillion dollars for defense per year, if there is no direct threat to our country and Iraq and Afghanistan are not direct threats, then you will need a fund similar to Social Security that you pay into called a National Defense fund. Taxes will be paid into it directly. Surely if Social Security can pay its way, then so can the Defense Department?

[Army of Dawgness]

1. How bout we cut everything by 10%

And I mean baseline budgeting not cuts in the projected growth.

If the world doesn't come to an end we'll revisit the issue and come up with another number.

[kentuck]

2. Let's not cut food for hungry children and a missile for the Air Force

and call it even. That would not be a good solution, in my opinion.