One of the biggest lies in our current debate about our national deficit "crisis" is that this is a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
That Republicans have successfully framed the debate around this canard shows the genius of their spin machine. First, they inherit a record surplus. Then, they cut taxes, mostly for the super wealthy. Then, they incompetently launch two wars that they don't pay for. And, they leave America with record deficits, which they somehow get away with blaming on Obama and the "reckless spenders in Washington."
They have all their bullshit soundbites down and spread their lies with aplomb and gumption, grinding down the truth to specks of dust caught in a whirlwind of 24/7 talking head chatter.
The truth is, our deficit is mostly a revenue problem and you absolutely can solve the budget deficit without touching Medicare or Social Security. I just did.
Here is an online budget tool from the New York Times many of you may have seen when it came out late last year.
Here is my budget proposal, which goes into surplus without touching Medicare or Social Security.
I actually do touch Social Security by reducing benefits for the wealthy, though you don't need to adopt this policy to reach balance -- I just personally support it as a policy option we should adopt.
I guess technically, I also touch these programs by increasing the cap on our payroll taxes.
But, for the most part, this budget goes into surplus without touching benefits of these important programs. It does so mainly by raising taxes on the wealthy and cutting our military spending.
I don't even use the national sales tax option, which I could support under the right circumstances and which would, according to the tool, raise an additional $281 billion by 2030.
Of course, given the decayed state of our political institutions and the wacked out banter that passes these days for political debate, my proposal -- or anything like it -- stands no chance in hell of ever coming up for serious debate, much less going into effect.
Sadly, with the Obama White House apparently willing to cave on Social Security and Medicare in order to get the GOP to accept some pittance of additional revenues, we'll never get the chance to see how a proposal like mine would play with the American public.
(I wonder what it would be like to have a president who actually fought for something.)
The point is, you absolutely can solve the budget crisis without touching Social Security or Medicare and you can do so with relatively common sense policies that I think would go over very well with the vast majority of the voting public.