Quote:
Originally Posted by Buccaneer
And solely raising taxes in an economic downturn would be a better alternative? I believe I talked about submitting and passing a balanced budget so that deficit spending would not increase.
|
I generally agree with a balanced budget, but at present that would mean several hundred billion less spending. Pulling that much money out of the system would likely hurt the economy. That's why the giant structural deficit is such a problem, because we don't have the room for short bursts of larger than normal deficit spending.
I'm not an economist, but my bet is that we need to get to a balanced budget over a period of five or six years. Realistically that isn't going to happen by spending cuts alone and will have to include some tax increases. How you balance the need for a closer to balanced budget, increased taxation, phased reduction in deficit spending, and an economic recovery is a challenge I can't answer.