Quote:
Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield
The govt costs $3.6 trillion to run.
Estimates of tax revenue gained from allowing cuts to expire for $250k and up brackets are between $60 and 100 billion.
So this tax fix everyone will be arguing about in DC involves enough money to run the govt for between 1/5 to 1/3 of a month?
If we couple it with removal of the payroll tax cut ($120 billion) in some manner that does not cause an offsetting decrease in consumption leading to greater unemployment, the cost of which would likely wash out the value of any gain from allowing that cut to expire, we could pay for somewhere near a whole month of govt. Given the projected 2013 deficit of $900 billion, after we get that month paid for (assuming some other revenue increases get us to the $300 bil needed, or cuts shrink the monthly operating cost), we only need to find another $600 billion in cuts and revenue enhancements and we can pay for a whole quarter of the budget.
|
The budget will not, and should not, be perfectly balanced for years.
And, as is always the case, if and when it is, it will be primarily because of economic growth and not cuts or tax increases.
