• Large Future Deficits
• Demographics
• Future Costs
• Macroeconomic Problems
• Slow Economic Growth
• Generational Accounting
• Increased Interest on Debt
• Capital Flight
• Economic Solutions
• Social Security
• Medicare
• Discretionary Spending
• Taxes
• Political Limitations
• Ideological Difference
• Partisan Politics
• Public Awareness
• Deficit Politics
• Entitlement Spending
• Policy Recommendations
• Complete Recommendation


• Full Printable Document

"When your in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging"

-David Wessel: The Wall Street Journal's deputy Washington bureau chief

The best and only way to solve the economic problems that we will face is to reduce the structural deficit.  One way is for Congress and the President to lower spending on discretionary and entitlement programs.  In order to enforce discipline Congress could lower spending on discretionary programs by Enhanced Rescission Authority and discretionary spending caps.  As for entitlement spending, Congress and the President could ‘bite the bullet’ and reduce the benefits of Medicare and Social Security.  They could also raise the retirement age for social security, ration the health care technology for Medicare, and reinstate PAYGO (A rule that does not allow Congress to raise entitlement benefits without a way to pay for them). Such self imposed rules by Congress are only effective when there is a commitment by the members to follow them. Just reducing benefits and caps on discretionary spending is not enough.  They also could let the Bush tax cuts expire; it may be the only way that we will have enough money to pay for the programs, national defense, and homeland security that Americans value.