The NY Times released this awesome tool that allows you to go through and apply different items that will help to fix the budget and shortfall for 2015 and 2030. Check out the tool here but be warned it is super addictive!

Here are my my choices! And a couple notes:

1. Farm subsidies, Joel made a convincing argument on these, and I left them only because i want the subsidies moved towards promoting better eating. So away from corn…

2. Reduce the federal work force, this one I’m a tad split on and left it unchecked. I think we need to lower it but do it smartly. There are some offices that need more resources and some that do not. Personal need to go towards areas such as education, energy policy, SEC and bank monitoring and investigation, and other protective areas. I did however cut the 250k in government contractors.

3. On military I reduced our nuke and space spending, duh. I feel strongly we should keep troops in Asia and Europe and really push that up, its good for the country and for our ability to project force abroad. Which is also why I didn’t vote for reducing the navy and air force fleet as they enable us to do that. I cut some of the terrible programs like the osprey, we need to drop the cold war race against our self. And not cutting veterans benefits as that seems insulting. And I voted to reduce the troops to 60k by 2015, I’d love to do 30k but I don’t think that is as feasible.

4. With health care I voted to cap medicare growth as I’ve read some on that and it makes sense, and to enact medical malpractice reform. I also wanted to vote to reduce tax breaks on employer provided health insurance, but this should be done once we have a base government provided health care or at least something that you buy yourself. Then the added extra insurance through your employer should be taxed.

5. Social security… I voted to reduce social security to those with high incomes and use an alternative measure for inflation. I’m not huge on increasing the retirement age just yet.

6. Existing taxes. This is a big one for me and I would vote for the most moderate one by Lincoln, the Obama one is good too as its the same as Bushes. Investment taxes, we need to go with Obama’s proposal. And on the bush tax cuts I want to allow expiration of taxes for incomes above 250,000 a year. And allow the payroll tax for those above 106k a year.

7. New taxes… The millionaire tax needs to happen. In terms of overhaul I’m very for the Bowles Simpson plan, we need to bring corporate tax rates down while cutting loopholes and other tax deductions. Plus reducing mortgage deductoins for high income households.

This puts me at 43% savings from tax increases and 57% from spending cuts… It puts me around 42 billion over the 2015 shortfall and it puts me 185 billion in surplus over the 2030 shortfall.

Now, I am very interested in a national VAT tax of 5%… I like consumption taxes as right now Americans just consume consume consume and this might break that a bit and bring in much needed money we could focus on doubling teacher saleries and redoing our energy grid…

So here are my results to view.

Confusing, I know. With this title you would think I am ushering the four angels of the apoch into my living room…

Glenn Beck is the head of an entertainment company, he seems to be the functionally retarded equivalent of Oprah for stupid white people. That said I have a lot of respect for the retard. He has such respect for the power of the system, that he is willing to abuse the fuck out of it and hope it remains working. Which is awesome both in his patience and the power of his belief, or maybe just his greed.

I’m going to work towards this as well, fuck belief, fuck what you think, fuck “good”. if you truly believe the established system is built to handle crazy retards then for all means abuse it. Let’s say some crazy shit, let’s rewrite history, let’s cry some crazy shit, and then let’s sell some books and seminars! Yeeehaawww! Or as they say in Glen Beck land, “crazy tear-rant wink wink”…

Great video on the idiocy that is Glenn Beck, this makes me want to go into TV if any idiot can spout this insane rabble and be so powerful.

John Stewart is an absolute genius.

Fantastic, what a strong person to go to them and call them out on their bullshit as well of some of his own parties bs. I’m so tired of the rhetoric on both sides, but especially the republicans as they seem to just want to do nothing when they don’t have the presidency. As if their job when they are in the minority is just to stop all forward progress, and to deny that the majority of Americans want universal health care!

Wow, watch this movie of Palin supporters trying to explain why they like her. It is super painful but I think this is the level of knowledge that at least 60% of the people in this country are at. And unfortunately a higher majority of republicans seems to love repeating buzz words without anything to back them up.

Here according to her supporters is what Palin is about:

Liberty
Right to Speak
Fairness
Realness
Make A Difference
Good Judgment
Clean Up The Spending
Cutting Taxes
Entrepreneurial Environment
Less Government
Back To Individuals
Obama is Marxist, Leninist
Obama Hates The Military
Obama is not a citizen.
We need profiling of people?
Drill oil in protected areas.
Hate special interest groups like PETA
Abortion Crap
Obama is taking away free speech and religious choice?
Back To Basics Of America?

Buzz words and talking points. A few really crazy people too, especially guy with glasses half way in and the retard in the Steelers jacket.

Blame Fox News.

Joe Wilson is a disgrace to his state and America! Plus a total retard who believes the crap fox news puts out. People like this give republicans a bad name and why I wince every time someone says the word, your party is full of stupid people, good luck with that plan.

Step 1: Fill Party With Idiots and Religious Zealouts
Step 2: ?
Step 3: World Domination / Return of Jesus?

If you would like to see something that explains death panels
please watch this movie. No really they are totally real! Cause everyone loves killing old people, especially liberals. Really?

Man I am so tired of hearing this bullshit, it sounds like Obama is being forced to drop the government health care plan and that fucking sucks. Health care is a right not something to make a profit off of. If there is any reason why our country is entering a decline and eventual demise it is because of the right wing’s ability to spread disinformation and not to enter any debate with facts. Who the hell wants to kill old people? Nobody, but if you can extend someone’s life by a week yet that procedure and similar are costing everyone in the country 40% than fuck old people, they can pay for that out of their pockets. I’m all for denying reality (friends will attest) but death is not something to be afraid of, and I’m tired of the right / christian right thinking you have to keep people alive no matter what. It is such a deeply ethical and personal question but as a society its going to come down to cost, insurance companies right now screw you so how the hell can the government do once. Not a glowing endorsement but I trust our government a lot more than private insurance companies who screw everyone I know over pricing and options.

As a small business owner whose team works remote it is ridiculous to think American can compete with the Aussies/NZ/UK/Rest of the world if we don’t provide health care to our citizens, espicially when our health care industry is 100% profit driven. I can hire quality people in Aussie and Europe and don’t have to worry about paying for their health care. America still has the biggest pool of quality labor but that is going to change as salaries have to compensate for health care that is going through the roof. Eventually it will make more sense for us to higher a full time doctor than buy health care (just half kidding).

On a personal level I see my dad screwed by the lack of affordable health care in that he can’t retire until he can get on a government plan at X age. And I personally have been at the hospital, asked how much something was by someone who does that procedure 20x times a day, and been told he has no idea as they outsource pricing. Crazy? Yes that is crazy. If you hook up someone to check their heart you should know what it costs for everyone. Instead some other agency checks your background and insurance and makes up some price.

This country is going to shit, luckily countries don’t matter any more and smart people are going to go to nations that provide them with what they need. I’m just waiting for Singapore or another smart country to start giving citizenship and free health care to people that are smart or making above X a year. Watch for a mass exodus of Americans over the next 100 years, I’m all for being a free agent citizen. Being American is a set of core values and beliefs, it is not tied to a government or geographic location.

/rant,
Ben

I fell for this dumb april fools joke! Although read this to see what the retard did earlier this year, tried to seize domain names because gambling is illegal in Kentucky.

Wow read this article and see how retarded their Governor is. Hopefully this idiot will get booted out of office soon and can go back to building his log cabin. You can read all about this retard here where he is trying to not allow parked domains in Kansas. And I thought Arkansas was bad…

This is a good read, hopefully the government uses this moment to make the shift and not dick around for twenty years with bad policies that make no sense. Read the nice commentary over at CNN by Cafferty.

I truly believe he is retarded and needs to be in a home, although really Fox News probably loves him. And really Fox News is a “special” place.

Here is a nice story on the kind of fluff and crap he creates.

That’s the context for this Glenn Beck “War Games” show on Fox News this week — one promoted, with some mild and obligatory caveats, by Michelle Malkin’s Hot Air. In the segment below, he convened a panel that includes former CIA officer Michael Scheuer and Ret. U.S. Army Sgt. Major Tim Strong. They discuss a coming “civil war” led by American “Bubba” militias — Beck says he “believes we’re on this road” — and they contemplate whether the U.S. military would follow the President’s orders to subdue civil unrest or would instead join with “the people” in defense of their Constitutional rights against the Government (they agree that the U.S. military would be with “the people”)[/blockquote]I want Glenn Beck to stop using words like bubba, on the front, main street, whoa, you people, bad guys, good guys, common sense, average etc.

I hope SouthPark makes an episode where Glenn Beck is impaled on a common sense pole. Or maybe have the founders beat the shit out of him for twisting their words and trying to speak for people who lived so long ago and not in our world.

Once again the Democrats suck Obama towards the old short sighted view that requiring all government purchases for infrastructure improvements be from American Iron and Steel manufactures… Screw competition or the fact that our steal is not competitive with the rest of the world, its a short term solution to help a dieing industry until the people in it can move on.

I really hope this doesn’t pass, focus that money on building new jobs in green technology so the workers can move there where they are going to be uber competitive. Don’t waste money by spending more than you should to make the improvements on our infrastructure, invest long term in America Obama and say no. Maybe build wind power and throw money at that, at least that is a long term improvement for both our economy and the people it will shift those jobs too.

Hopefully Obama says change…

Original story via Forbes: White House reviewing ‘Buy American’ plan.