Quantcast
Feeds: Email, RSS & Twitter

Get Our Videos By Email

 

8,300 Unique Visitors In The Past Day

 

Powered by Squarespace

 

Most Recent Comments
Cartoons & Photos
SEARCH
« 32 Seconds Of Nassim Taleb Kicking Bob Rubin's Ass | Main | Obama Debt Commission Delays Final Vote: "The Era Of Deficit Denial In Washington Is Over" (VIDEO) »
Wednesday
Dec012010

Erin Burnett: "What's 43,000 Pages and 16 Feet Tall?"

Which is larger - Erin Burnett's ego in 4-inch heels or the U.S. Federal Budget?

Video - Erin Burnett on the National Debt Party - Aired yesterday

---

Source - CNBC

On the eve of a highly-anticipated report by President Obama's deficit commission, which will lay out specific proposals for reducing federal debt, it's important to put things into perspective.

The numbers are staggering. The challenge is daunting. The current tally is almost impossible to wrap your head around: $14 trillion and counting.

For weeks now, we've been reporting on "The Fleecing of America"—wasteful government spending and questionable federal programs that many believe would be easy to cut in order to bring that $14 trillion figure down.

Some of that spending qualitifies as pork. Some of those programs are out of date or simply a result of mismanagement.

But trimming the deficit ultimately means tough choices. And to get an idea just how tough, we printed out the entire federal budget—43,000 pages in all. It stands 16 feet tall. You can see why cutting it down to size will be an enormous task. (Watch video of Erin Burnett and the paper budget skyscraper below.)

That's where the president's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform comes in. The 18-member panel will deliver their plan tomorrow and will vote on the proposal Friday.

The co-chairmen, Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican Alan Simpson, are busy trying to convince at least 14 members to support the plan. Fourteen is a key number—without it, the panel cannot make a recommendation to the president.

What do they want to cut? We know Bowles and Simpson was to reduce spending by $4 trillion over the next decade and cut the deficit in half by 2015. The biggest cuts would come from defense.

Also on the chopping block: changes to medicare and social security. And, as we saw yesterday from President Obama, a freeze in salaries of federal workers.

A new CNBC-AP Poll says a majority of Americans believe both higher taxes and cuts in government services will be necessary to reduce or eliminate the deficit. The poll also found that 85 percent of those surveyed think the deficit will negatively effect their children's and grandchildren's future.

 

 

 

 

 

PrintView Printer Friendly Version

EmailEmail Article to Friend

Reader Comments (3)

Words of Thomas Edison

It is absurd to say that our country
Can issue $30 million in bonds
And not $30 million in currency.
Both are promises to pay
But one fattens the usurers
And the other helps the people.”

http://www.michaeljournal.org/appenD.htm
Dec 1, 2010 at 1:21 PM | Registered CommenterDailyBail
How to Save Taxpayer Money: Bring in The Dogs, Not Naked Body Scanners (VIDEO)

http://www.activistpost.com/2010/12/how-to-save-taxpayer-money-bring-in.html
Dec 1, 2010 at 1:22 PM | Registered CommenterDailyBail
Don't tax the rich!! They need the money for these great things: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxLs9WI3QRs
Dec 1, 2010 at 4:00 PM | Unregistered CommenterJames Street

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
All HTML will be escaped. Hyperlinks will be created for URLs automatically.