The federal budget deficit has been been a lot attention. What is a budget deficit? Use the following interactive link to fix the federal budget. What was your primary strategy? Which levers were most effective? Did you rely on spending cuts or primarily on changes in taxes? If you were a member of congress, how would the voters react to your decisions?
11 Comments
Katey Brown
11/18/2010 01:18:14 am
My strategy was to click randomly through out the page. I am so confused. I do NOT understand this but I'm willing to learn?
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Lauren Brown
11/18/2010 05:36:27 am
I didn't understand the budget puzzle fully, BUT I did read many of the click-able boxes and some made sense, but others did not. My strategy was, if I liked it i clicked it. But i mostly looked at the biggest numbers in billions seemingly they would solve it faster, with the bigger numbers.
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Raul Alcantar
11/18/2010 07:39:52 am
A budget deficit is the amount by which a government, company, or individual surpasses the total income over a particular period of time. The strategy I used to solve the deficit was to find a reasonable balance between the savings caused by a decision and the effects it would have on the majority of the American public. However, I found that it is impossible to solve the deficit without upsetting some people, so the taxes and the cuts will ultimately dissatisfy others. As I checked the boxes, I aimed at helping lower income families and small businesses, thus the taxes went higher for the rich. I also opted to cut funds for military purposes, for the army we have should suffice to intimidate others; building up a military is more a Cold War theme. Although some people may be scared by this decision, it is important to remember the deficit caused by military spending.
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Ireri Bernal
11/18/2010 03:02:42 pm
From the budget puzzle I can conclude that a budget deficit is simply a budget plan pin pointing and stating what would be induced and changed in order to save us a certain amount of money .Considering I did not understand some of the options that were given such as the projected plans on taxes relating to bush , Obama, and Clinton , I simply choose to go with Obamas plans because he seems to know what hes doing. On issues involving the military i looked beyond the economic view and went more for what i thought should be done, We don't need so many soldiers in Iraq it's a waste of money. As for foreign aid I choose to reduce the aid to half , I just don't see how we are helping out other countries when we can't even figure our own problems out we should first try to solve ours and stabilize and economy to the point where we could perhaps even provide more efficient aid in the future. I supported the increase in taxes to higher incomes and to reduce social security help for the rich , Money should be given to individuals who have no other means of income and actually need it. I choose to create the carbon tax because money will eventually be needed to better our environment,might as well think ahead and target those who are contributing to the damage. Overall i was projected to in 2015 to have a shortfall of 418 billion and 1345 billion in 2030 with 46 % of savings coming from tax increases ( to the wealthy) and 54 % from spending cuts. I'm guessing shortfall means saving ? I think many average working class Americans and democrats would support my decision , but because i had budget cuts and tax increases coming from different parts of the economy my supporters would be varied.
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gaby rulon
12/8/2010 12:38:16 pm
A budget deficit is the amount by which government spending exceeds its revenue. Although i do not know much about the areas in which spending costs and tax increases should be implemented, my main strategies for reducing our deficit are decreasing the income of federal workers, cutting foreign aid, diminishing the amount of troops in Iraq and Afganistan, raising eligibility for retirement, and reducing the production of nuclear weapons. i believe the most effective cuts would be toward the number of troops we send into iraq and afganistan as well as medicare eligibility . Through this plan I am establishing more emphasis on long term goals rather than short term ones. i believe more in cutting spending rather than raising taxes as a way to reduce our deficit. Since many people desire short term change, i believe that my goals would not be fully appreciated or accepted in the public's eye.
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Dakota Rose
12/8/2010 01:59:28 pm
A budget deficit is basically the same as debt. You could say that a country with a budget deficit is akin to a person with debt. However, on the grandiose scale of a country, a budget deficit can be slightly frightening. Currently, the United States has amassed over $1.3 trillion of debt because we, as Americans, like to spend money that doesn't exist. We pour funds into projects like no tomorrow, and we have never really stopped to take a step back and analyze the situation that we have created for ourselves. Thus, the U. S. has become like the people who you hear about on commercials who have somehow managed to become hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, but multiplied by about ten million.
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G. Martin
12/8/2010 05:14:37 pm
A budget deficit occurs when the government spends more money than it receives in the form of taxes or fees. My strategy was to eliminate superfluous expenditures. Most importantly, I cut the amount of troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Europe, and Asia. In addition, I restricted domestic programs, foreign aid, and health care. The combination of limiting the amounts of troops worldwide and controlling health care costs served to be the most effective levers. The balance that was then still needed had to come from raising taxes. In order to achieve not only the fairest assessment but also the most revenue, I raised taxes for everyone across the board. It would be ineffective to only raise taxes for individuals making over $250,000, as that's not where the bacon is. In order to balance the budget most efficiently, I decided to rely primarily on spending cuts. As I would be a Republican member of congress, my constituents would understand that some sacrifices have to be made by the citizens of this country to solve the problems of the nation.
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Liam Van Keuren
12/9/2010 01:45:54 am
A budget deficit is when a government spends over the money they recieve. In the " You Fix the Budget" activity to fix the budget I eliminated for example earmarks I felt that they aren't something that our government needs and the money that is saved from eliminating it can be used for more useful things like the military. Although our military is important I believe we need to cut the number of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to 60,000 by 2015, this will save $149 billion by 2030, if we can save that much money in that amount of time for something we can control, it is defenetly worth it.
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Rubi Pelayo
12/9/2010 08:49:48 am
A budget deficit occurs when the government spends more money than it recieves from internal fees and taxes. My strategy was to reduce all the spendings that seemed uneccessary pertaining to the military. I also reduced the amount of foreign aid since we don't have money to be giving away in these economic times. In addition, I raised taxes and took away social security benefits for those who are extremely wealthy. I primarily relyed on changing taxes. If I was a member of Congress I'm not sure if relying on taxes is good because wouldn't that mean raising them?
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Matt Myers
12/9/2010 11:22:56 am
A budget deficit is when the expenditures exceed the amount of income. Our government is, and has been, spending money that it does not have since our country was established; the result of our $13.9 trillion dollar national debt. While piecing together the "You Fix the Budget" puzzle I realized the difficulty in determining the measures that need to be taken to fix the deficit. It would be very hard to keep the best interests of ALL in mind. It seems that you cannot satisfy one side without infuriating the other; thus, the measures I took are as follows. One of the largest things I amended from the current budget was to reduce the number of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Another large change noted was to eliminate loopholes while keeping taxes lower. I also went as far as allowing expiriation of the top 2% of household incomes. These are just the larger of my changes, but in total I was able to bring the short-fall for 2030 from the projected $1,345 billion to $873 billion. Thats 65% less spending. I think that if I were to be a member of congress my views would be shared by many of my peers.
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Diane Meyer
12/9/2010 04:00:42 pm
A budget deficit is the lack of money that can be used to establish a budget. It is, essentially, the amount of debt something or someone is in. Debt occurs when non existent money is being spent. Currently the U.S. has a $418 billion shortfall as of year 2015 and a projected $1345 for 2030. While completing the puzzle, I found that it was difficult to determine where increased taxes or cuts should be made. I did not base my decision on what would make the most money, but rather what was most beneficiary, if you can even use that word when describing heightened taxes or spending cuts, to the greater good. I tried to base my decisions on placing myself in other people's shoes and attempting to estimate the extent of the damage raising the taxes or cutting programs could do to an individual, business, or society in general. The end result of my choices was a 65% saving rate from tax increases and a 35% savings from spending cuts. I tried to make tax increases that would be fair to everyone; although it makes sense to tax the rich more than the poor, I don't know if I would call it fair. I tried to rely on my sense of morality, especially in dealing with the Medicare/Medicaid problems, to guide my decisions. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be a member of Congress, but if I was I would try to make decisions that reflected the needs of the majority.
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