We do a lot of stone throwing at congress and this administration and it is very very well deserved, but as one of our past regular posters used to suggest...what would you do different.

Since our spending and deficit seems to be the biggest item, would love to hear how my might attack this issue...sort of helps to get ready for the political rhetoric on this subject.

I am not in anyway an expert, or do I even possess the most rudimentary idea of what it may take, but to begin I would suggest and I KNOW they are simple in presentation and tough in practice.

1. Immediate repeal of the Health care bill recently passed. It was a disaster when passed and as we get more information it even seems to be worse than we thought. This bill , conceived in back rooms and passed due to bribery despite ALL polls showing nobody wanted it...it passed by 7 votes and even those democrats that supported it did so based on this administration telling them it would cut costs. As the days go by we learn how untrue all of the cost cutting stuff was....

"Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius knew about a report from Medicare’s Office of the Actuary prior to the House’s March 22 vote, indicating the bill would increase healthcare costs, according to an April 26 report appearing in The American Spectator’s Washington Prowler blog.

The bill passed by a 219-212 margin with several self-proclaimed fiscally conservative Democrats voting in favor, believing it would reduce costs.
But an HHS source said Sebelius’ staff refused to examine the document before the vote was taken to keep from negatively influencing the results. The administration waited until last week to make the report public.

“The reason we were given was that they did not want to influence the vote,” the HHS source said. “Which is actually the point of having a review, you would think. We know a copy was sent to the White House via their legislative affairs staff, and there were a number of meetings here almost right after the analysis was submitted.

“Everyone went into lockdown, and people here were too scared to go public with the report.”


http://newsmax.com/InsideCover/HHSWi...4/29/id/357294

I would then insure we had a totally bipartisan group set up with firm deadlines to report to congress on reducing costs in health care !


2. Pass AND ENFORCE a paygo legislation that, and I am no legislative genius, but MADE TO BE ENFORCED. Of course there needs to be a few exceptions....social security comes to mind for now anyway.

Any other ideas out there ???

And please don't critique the messenger here...I know it is not easy and that these are very simply stated !

I don't know either Bucco. I'm not good with economics and numbers. I know we have to stop wasteful spending. And I know a new Value Added Tax or any new or increased taxes is not the way to go.

While we rushed to file our taxes April 15, Congress still hasn't passed a budget. It is disgraceful. We American taxpayers are servicing a debt for the federal government that this year will amount to approximatley $188 billion in taxes we pay just for the interest.

I just discovered this new website. It is called Bankrupting America and is run by a new nonprofit The Public Notice.org. Founded by former Bush administration PR specialist Gretchen Hamel.

Hamel says that "...backroom deals, trillion-dollar deficits, pork-laden spending bills, and multibillion-dollar bailouts have left many Americans wondering if Washington can be trusted with their money... unprecedented government spending and debt, corporate welfare, higher taxes, and poorly designed bureaucratic red tape are undermining economic progress."

I don't know much about them yet, but this video and websites are really interesting and give some thoughtful and educational information.

http://www.bankruptingamerica.org/

http://www.thepublicnotice.org/2010/...ding-gone-mad/

http://www.bankruptingamerica.org/wp...ctSheet8.3.pdf

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4ljZea6YSE&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

Originally Posted by bkcunningham1

I don't know either Bucco. I'm not good with economics and numbers. I know we have to stop wasteful spending. And I know a new Value Added Tax or any new or increased taxes is not the way to go.

While we rushed to file our taxes April 15, Congress still hasn't passed a budget. It is disgraceful. We American taxpayers are servicing a debt for the federal government that this year will amount to approximatley $188 billion in taxes we pay just for the interest.

I just discovered this new website. It is called Bankrupting America and is run by a new nonprofit The Public Notice.org. Founded by former Bush administration PR specialist Gretchen Hamel.

Hamel says that "...backroom deals, trillion-dollar deficits, pork-laden spending bills, and multibillion-dollar bailouts have left many Americans wondering if Washington can be trusted with their money... unprecedented government spending and debt, corporate welfare, higher taxes, and poorly designed bureaucratic red tape are undermining economic progress."

I don't know much about them yet, but this video and websites are really interesting and give some thoughtful and educational information.

http://www.bankruptingamerica.org/

http://www.thepublicnotice.org/2010/...ding-gone-mad/

http://www.bankruptingamerica.org/wp...ctSheet8.3.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4ljZ...layer_embedded

Thanks for the links BK.......I just want to keep my feet on the ground and insure as these guys of both parties talk this fall, that I have a good feel for what they are saying.

For starters I'd like to pass a Constitutional Ammendment stating that no member of Congress may be exempt from any law passed by Congress.

I know that would be largely symbolic but it would at least start getting us back to the idea that the House of Representatives is supposed to be the People's House. And maybe both houses will think twice when passing legislation that affects "the little people".