commentaries

So where were you guys when it mattered--when you could do something about it before it got to this point? When elected to congress, the first thing a member of either house loses is h/h courage. Thanks for nothing "lions" from Oz...

Good article. I think we need an axe rather than a scalpel.

If it gets the right to accept the fact that some increase in taxes will be needed and gets the left to anti up cuts on more than just military.....where do I sign up?

Nothing will happen as long as voters get rid of the person willing to make tough decisions. I'm not holding my breath.

A lot of words in this editorial without giving any real ideas - just generalities like a scalpel rather than an ax, along with even more tax revenue. So even on the generalities they get it wrong.

What is really needed IS an ax, and we might be able to recover if taxes are left alone. Further raising taxes in any form will only increase the odds of pushing us back into recession. We're probably already headed there as everyone sees some form of tax increase this year and more of Obamacare gets implemented.

This country has had only a handful of balanced budgets since the Federal Reserve Act was passed in 1913. Our elected officials talk about balancing the budget, ad nauseum, but it NEVER changes. Doesn't that seem more than a bit odd? If the CEO of a fortune 500 company had his company go in the red more than a single fiscal year, he'd probably be fired. Our last balanced budget was in 1957. NINETEEN FIFTY-SEVEN! The reason we can't balance our budget is because perpetual red ink is, and always has been, the plan since 1913. Perpetual government debt is what has made the Rothschilds and Rockefellers of this world filthy rich. The Rothschild banking family of England owns 50 percent of the world’s wealth all by itself (Bill Gates lives in a tar-paper shack under a bridge by comparison). Perpetual debt is by design. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 made it lucrative for both the politicians and the bankers. The crooked bankers get filthy rich, and our federal elected officials have access to easy money whenever they want (without the re-election nightmare of raising taxes dramatically for something unexpected like a war, or BANK BAILOUTS). The creation of the US Central Bank in alliance with our Federal Government was a marriage made in hell. The PRIVATE Federal Reserve Central Bank has sucked more than 300 trillion dollars from the American People in the past 100 years. It’s made a lot of crooked people filthy rich. Do the math people. That's enough to make every man, woman and child in this country a millionaire. Balanced budget? It's all rhetoric, and your elected officials all know it. The only president to ever stand up to this corrupt and cleverly concealed monolith lost his life. The house of cards will soon fall, folks. And the filthy rich bankers don't care. They've all converted our soon to be worthless dollar to stuff with intrinsic value. They are set. This country has been hosed by its elected officials and the puppeteer scumbag bankers who pull the strings. Have a nice day.

In the interest of transparency: Who is funding this "committee"? One of the key organizers and funders is Billionair Pete Peterson who has been trying to privatize Social Security for decades. No axe to grind there. When I finally hear these "washed up pols" start to talk about dismantling the 1,000 plus bases around the world that support the "Amercian Empire" such as the 26,000 troops in Korea then I will know they are actually serious. Until then it's all "horse manure and gunsmoke". All three of these "experts" have their lifetime pensions and healthcare for having served in Congress. I don't see them offering to put these extremely generous benefits on the table for debt reduction. Phonies all.

Yet another article that screams we have to do something without saying what it is we need to do. We need a scalpel, axe, and any other tool available. Using just an axe while ignoring the scalpel, or to use another metaphor waiting for the homerun while ignoring bunts and singles - is not going to work. We need to trim everywhere we can, even if it is $10 or a trillion at a pop. I think we the people need to chip in and tell our politicians what we are willing to do to help. Perhaps we can declare war on debt and buys 'debt' bonds ala war bonds? Implement a national sales tax that remains in effect until the debt reaches a certain point? Implement a 1% spending cut across the government? Use social media to allow use to vote on potential ideas large and small and go with what gets the most votes from the People?

We need more revenue, just don't raise my taxes. We need to cut spending, but cut someone else's benefits, not mine.

pukfan - Majority rule is NOT the answer. We do that to elect our leaders - and even there the people don't generally make a good decision. The only way to fix this is to place more restrictions on our political leaders. Either a balanced budget amendment or some constitutional amendment that limits how they can spend money and control us. Problem is, we may have reached that tipping point where we have a majority of voters who are now dependent on government - and they may be unwilling to vote in a way that takes away their government check.