Bittle and Johnson explain the budget jargon and what catch phrases really mean. It is an easy to read book suitable for teens and adults.
Here's a sobering excerpts from the book:
Unless we make some changes, by 2040, nearly every dollar the government collects in taxes will be needed for Social Security, Medicare, and paying interest on the debt.
I liked this part:
Five Signs You're Being a Lazy Citizen
1. You are not registered to vote.
2. You vote only in presidential elections.
3. If they agree with you on X, they've got your vote.
4. You never listen to the candidates' debate.
5. You just read the headlines.
This is a good way to evaluate candidates:
When to be afraid, very afraid
1. They promise popular new programs without saying how to pay for them.
2. They promise tax cuts without saying where the money will come from.
3. They put costs in a "supplemental" spending bill.
4. They hide pet projects in "emergency" spending bills.
A closing thought:
Unfortunately, just balancing the budge every year isn't going to cut it. The country is already roughly $9 trillion in debt, and we have massive expenses coming up with the boomers getting long in the tooth. So stopping the deficit spending isn't much more than putting your finger in the dike. We need to take additional steps, and we need to take them soon.
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Tags : Scott Bittle, Jean Johnson, Where Does the Money Go? , Federal Budget Crisis, income tax, estate tax,
3 comments:
About that budget....what was it, something like $42 million to send out the letters to say that most taxpayers would be getting a check in the mail? Couldn't we just start by saving the $42 million and only send the check? Or save money on the checks and put the amount into a tax refund calculated on this year's return? Or just not send the checks and keep from going further into debt? If I ran my home budget like the government runs the federal budget...yikes!
I was going through on candidate's 15 page proposal on education. Full of good wishes and less detailed on the how (no mention of school choice or phonics). And I was a bit dubious on the cuts proposed that were going to pay for the changes. It reminded me of the Cold War windfall that was perceived to exist in the 90s.
And I agree that I wish we hadn't had to send out letters saying that stimulus checks were coming. I think the reason they took that step was because of widespread fraud last time there was a similar distribution. There were a lot of people taking advantage of families who didn't understand what was going to happen.
I'm still trying to figure out how someone who didn't pay income tax gets a "refund."
And all that talk about universal preschool, they never did mention how they were going to pay for it.
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