Charlie Rose

charliesheep  02/07/2010 12:20 PM Report

AH," WHETHER TIS NOBLER IN THE MINDS OF MEN TO SUFFER THE SLINGS AND ARROWS" OF GREG JUDD,-- OR TO SWALLOW ALL THOSE LIES BY REPUBLICANS AND KISS THE AMERICA-- WE KNEW GOODBYE--I.E. THEIR VEIW;--HEATHCARE FOR THE WEALTHY, PRISONS FOR POOR AND BURIAL PLOTS IN POTTERS FIELDS FOR RETURNING INJURED--SOLDIERS-POLITICIANS--JOURNALISTS--IF THEIR TAXES ARE PAID UP--MAYBE CHARLIE HAS FREE ONE IN FRANCE ?

wolfmanwon  02/05/2010 02:28 AM Report

Charlie this was an excellent program please do more of these bipartisan programs. The politics are dysfunctional and I believe the current state of media impedes rational discussions such as this. We need more of this rational discussion.

DavidD  02/04/2010 01:17 AM Report

This was an excellent program. It was nice to see some bipartisanship and expertise brought to bear. The American people need some serious educating on this topic, as does the Congress. We don't like deficits, but are completely unprepared for the consequences of what must be done. Here is an illustrative list of the types of things that would be required.

We should first recognize that demographics are bringing about the end of the American Empire. The ratio of workers to retirees has fallen from 5:1 in 1960 to 3.3 today and will further drop to 2.1:1 in 2040 before stabilizing. There are 77 million Baby Boomers retiring, roughly 25% of the population.

CBO and GAO predict that Medicare, Social Security and Interest will absorb all Federal tax revenue around 2030, about 18% of GDP pre-crisis. Workers are going to have to carry a very heavy burden for some time and we cannot afford a large military along with the ratio of elderly we will be carrying.

1. Make the case to the People. Explain the demographics. Next, we spend about $1.40 for every $1.00 in taxes prior to the crisis, so assuming we get back to par (a big if) a 40% cut across all categories would be required to balance the budget. In 2009 we spent $2.00 per tax dollar and that will continue in 2010.

2. Target 2020 for a balanced budget. Establish the laws now and gradually implement the measures below, with stimulus as needed depending on how the economy performs. Stimulus should be long-term clean investments such as nuclear and solar plants or bullet trains; infrastructure has the greatest impact on economic activity per dollar of stimulus. We should have a clean asset that pays dividends at the end of any stimulus program.

3. The long-term deficit is all about healthcare reform; nothing else comes close. Medicare is six times as big a problem as Social Security. Apply every major cost-control strategy to healthcare reform. The current health care bill is primarily about coverage; it has pilot programs that should help reduce costs but does not effectively address obesity, defensive medicine/tort reform, insurers (1,300) with different payment systems, doctor incentives, etc. If this does not work, set a budget for the Medicare program and apply administrative rationing, similar to many other countries. About one-third the costs of Medicare are for patients in the last year of life. The better we reform the system, the less draconian our rationing will have to be; I doubt it is avoidable entirely.

4. Put Social Security on firm footing by: a) removing the payroll tax cap ($106,800 presently) so that all income levels are taxed; and b) Limit annual cost of living adjustments (COLA) to the rate of inflation, rather than inflation plus a premium. This makes the program solvent for the next 75 years.

5. Cut the department of defense budget in half over 10 years (from about $700 billion for DOD and Homeland Security). The U.S. is safer if it saves now and has the funds later when China is a military superpower around 2030, rather than bankrupting itself worrying about underwear bombers. The jobs will shift to healthcare mainly over time.

6. Cut the discretionary budgets overall by 30%, prioritizing across the various Departments, and freeze them there until the budget is balanced.

7. Reverse the Bush 43 income tax cuts. In the U.S., only the top 50% highest earning families pay income tax. This is a progressive measure that the CBO estimates would add $180 billion to tax revenues annually.

8. Remove the major tax exemptions, such as the exemption for health insurance paid by employers, mortgage interest, etc. The Economist estimates these add up to $500 billion per year if done for all; this could be done progressively for somewhat less.

This will get us to a sustainable budgetary path in the next decade. Beyond that, we will have to learn to compete with our new rivals, China, India and Brazil.

MelJ  02/02/2010 08:23 PM Report

I would have gotten more out of the conversation if Judd Gregg's seat had been occupied by someone more knowledgeable, like Barney Frank or Charles Schumer. Anybody remember the Bush Tax Cuts? The ones which converted the Bill Clinton surplus into the George W. Bush deficits? Judd Gregg voted for both of the big ones. For him to whine about deficits and the national debt now, having been told nine years ago that those tax cuts would explode the deficit, rings extremely hollow. Hey, if nothing else, have John McCain on - he at least had the sense to vote against the Bush Tax Cuts. Sheesh!

pammath  02/02/2010 07:12 PM Report

This is an excellent program. I wish we could require all Americans to sit down and listen to what these three men are saying.

REMant  02/02/2010 01:42 PM Report

I think we can apply what someone wrote here last week: Obama is saying the same thing he said last year, when people believed it. Orszag, in particular, seems to have an extreme case of cognitive dissonance. Besides the debt, itself, the Fed is already taxing all the people who hold dollars to buy the Treasuries to support it. Besides that, what is spent on defense is being spent on generating wars, both directly, and indirectly through the economic contraction created, when it might be better spent, or not spent at all, to help prevent them. Ditto entitlements. This is a downward spiral. Actually I think Gregg is overly optimistic. We will not be out of the recession this year, the financial crisis is not really behind us, and no matter what happened in the past eight years the behavior hasn't changed. Both monetarists and Keynesians are wrong-headed and always have been.