Burning Thoughts

My lack of posts here about the debt ceiling and annual budgets is not lack of interest.  Previously I posted mainly in the Mensa Forums, but now I’m turning my attention to my web site.

It’s interesting to look at what would have to happen to make the Republican Balanced Budget Amendment enforced for the 2012 budget (from a watchdog site).  The column on the left is the 2012 budget as it currently stands.  It calculates that 29% comes from deficit financing (which is unsustainable as well as a reaction to the Great Recession). In the right column, I stripped out some line items, just to see how we might get to a balanced budget.

If we funded only defense, healthcare, pensions, and interest in the 2012 Budget, we would still have a deficit of $210.9M.

The consequences of such drastic cuts would be felt beyond the GDP which would sink back into recession and possibly depression.  Imagine the chaos in the streets and the loss of future productivity by reducing funding for schools.

Funding Area	2012 Proposed Budget	Balanced Budget
Pensions	805.6	805.6
Healthcare	866.1	866.1
Education	121.1
Defense	925.2	925.2
Welfare	431.5
Protection	58.7
Transport	104.9
Admin	32.6
Other	141.5
Interest	241.6	241.6
Total	3738.8	2838.5
Deficit	1101.2	210.9

The entire budgetary argument is hobbled because budgets are yearly income-outgo documents. No business budgets its year without considering the effect on its net worth. Spending this year that builds the asset base for the future is essential investment that doesn’t pay for itself in one year’s budget.

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Net Worth, the Missing Side of Budget Debates
Social Contract requires law and order as well as opportunity

Photo of chart with growing line by Isaac Smith on unsplash.com