Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Wait, What? We need only $900 Billion in the Next Decade to Balance the Budget?

It seems that the government is raking in the cashola and all of the fear-factor about the deficit does not seem to be coming to roost.

Our $600 billion of new savings mean the debt is already stabilized. Wait, what $600 billion of new savings? Well, that's how much less the Congressional Budget Office figures we will spend on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid over the next decade compared to what it figured back in February. And that's how the $1.5 trillion of additional savings the CBPP said we needed half a year ago turned into $900 billion now.

I'm sure someone can find either $90 billion a year in cuts or revenue or a mix of both to balance the budget going forward. I think tax reform by itself might be able to close that gap if GDP grows how I think it will in the next decade. Then you add the massive surplus that will be coming in from being a net exporter of oil and the next decade might be pretty sweet for the US. Then if you add immigration reform you can goose GDP growth even further.

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