Where on this chart are entitlements listed as contributing to the deficit?

[Samantha]

Specifically, please look at the chart on the top right-hand side and view the contributing factors in order. It seems to me that if cutting the deficit is the number one priority, the best approach would be to tackle those items listed in this chart.

Looks to me as if going over the fiscal cliff would take a large bite out of the problem, but, hey, that is just me.

http://www.cbpp.org/research/index.cfm?fa=topic&id=121

Comments?

Sam

[msongs]

1. appeasers and sellouts are not operating from your list nt

[Samantha]

2. Apparently

and they think we are too dumb to research these issues....

Thanks for posting on my thread.

Sam

[jsr]

11. They don't answer to peasants and peons and their trivial concerns.

[Angry Dragon]

3. facts + republicans = don't mix

[Samantha]

5. Very true

Reminds me of something I keep telling myself -- don't apply a logical argument to an illogical situation, unless you want to drive yourself crazy.

Thanks for posting on my thread.

Sam

[Coyotl]

4. Seems more like the focus is on stealing Social Security money to pay the Bush wars deficit.

[Samantha]

6. I HAVE POSTED EXACTLY THAT HERE

And that is part of what drives me crazy. I truly opposed that war from its inception. The cost of waging it is a chunk of that 10.5 Trillion Dollars George W. Bush* kept off the general ledger. I only found out about that when President Obama mentioned it in the early months and said he was taking those costs kept out of the general ledger and adding them in so all Americans could see where things stood. This was a public statement I heard on cable. Following that, the Republicans started hammering President Obama about the huge deficit....

Asking recipients of Social Security to take a hit of about $18,000+ during the course of a 25 year retirement to reduce the deficit is in a way asking beneficiaries to help pay off the cost of that war. How about asking Halliburton and the Carlyle Group, two of the biggest profiteers of the war, to cough up some taxes? Both of these entities pay very little, next to nothing corporate income taxes. What about their part of the "shared sacrifice?"

Thanks for posting on my thread. You made an excellent point.

Sam

[Coyotl]

8. Those wars drove gas prices from $1 to $4 so let the oil companies pay for the war

and their wealthy stockholders. They made off with many trillions!! And the defense contractors too!

[Samantha]

9. Yes, and then there is of course Dick Cheney's "deferred compensation" as he served as VP

For eight years, Cheney received payments from Halliburton which I believe when confronted he said went into a trust fund that he would not access while he was in office. Halliburton paid next to nothing in taxes from its profits on these wars. Yet the U.S. taxpayer still funds Cheney's health insurance. How twisted is that? Some people in this Country who are extremely wealthy seem to think they never have enough. They look at the middle class and impoverished and think we have too much. Again, how twisted is that?

Thanks for posting on my thread.

Sam

[Loudly]

7. I like these charts posted by diedinthewoolliberal last week:

It shows you where the money goes. And we either collect it in taxes or we borrow it (including it borrow it from ourselves from the Social Security Trust Fund or by having the Federal Reserve print money to purchase our debt securities).

http://nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/

[Samantha]

12. That is a great link

I particularly enjoyed President Obama's recommendations for mandatory spending, as well as the one for discretionary spending, 2013.

Thanks for posting on my thread and sharing your link:

http://nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/

Sam

[HiPointDem]

10. kr