Issue Position: Deficit and Debt

Issue Position

The Deficit and the Debt

There is general agreement that the National debt and deficit require attention and must be reduced. There is great disagreement on how to accomplish this. What we must do is ensure that the prospects for long term growth and recovery are enhanced, and that essential services are preserved. Recovery will require both cuts and increases in revenue, and should include increased investment in some vital areas of the economy.

To cut spending, we must:

* Health care spending is the most serious budgetary challenge the Nation faces, and both government and personal out-of-pocket costs must be controlled. The Obama Administration's Affordable Care Act (ACA) offers a good start toward reform. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that implementation of the ACA would result in savings of $230 billion over ten years. As good as it is, the ACA is a starting point only, and enhancements, such as requiring Medicare to negotiate drug prices, are needed.
* We now spend more on defense than we did even during the height of the Cold War. The defense budget accounts for approximately 20% of the federal budget, and includes much that defense analysts and even the Pentagon views as excessive and unnecessary.
* Increase government efficiency, including consolidation of related programs.

On the revenue side, we must:

* Allow the Bush era tax cuts for those households with incomes above $250,000 to expire at the end of this year.
* Tax investment income at the same rate as ordinary income.
* Review the corporate tax laws to close loopholes, eliminate deductions and end subsidy programs that have outlived their purposes or usefulness.
* Establish tax penalties for companies that export jobs.
* Do not reward corporations with tax breaks for repatriating funds held overseas, as has been done previously with no beneficial effect on employment. Rather, require them to pay the U.S. tax due regardless and remove that incentive for holding funds abroad.
* Ensure that corporations pay taxes on the value of state and local tax incentives granted to encourage relocation.

Give a resounding "No!" to the Ryan budget plan that will push more and more people into poverty, thus causing more pressure on both the Federal and state budgets.

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