Wednesday November 14, 2012, 9:12 pm
This may point the finger of blame but the real question is what can be done to correct the problem? The answer is that it isn't going to be easy or pretty. It's going to involve higher taxes and less spending -- and I'm not talking about funding Big Bird. The fact is that over half the Federal Budget pays for *mandatory* programs --- items that, by law, cannot be cut: Interest on the National Debt, Social Security, Medicare and government retirement pensions. If you eliminate *every* other item in the Federal Budget --- Defense spending, education,

Wednesday November 14, 2012, 9:21 pm
Defense spending is the biggest dollar item you mention and most analyses indicate that the sequestration levels don't even eliminate the contractors' waste portion of the Pentagon budget...

Wednesday November 14, 2012, 9:21 pm
[Sorry, hit Submit by accident]

energy, transportation, energy, etc. --- there is still not enough income to cover spending. The only answer is to increase revenues. Cutting spending in mandatory programs may sound like an answer (it certainly did to a recent Presidential candidate) but all that does is transfer the ultimate cost to the consumer in having to pay for insurance themselves, for example, or by forcing the states to raise the revenue with increased taxes at home.

Wednesday November 14, 2012, 9:23 pm
Sorry I responded before I got Part II Stella! Your bottom line explains it all too well.