Tax Hikes, Fewer Benefits Key to Federal Deficit Crisis Fix

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A hot dog with everything on with fries was 5 cents. The Chicago Tribune cost 2 cents. I worked 3 hours a night selling that paper and earned a grand total of 24 cents. Gasoline was 17 cents a gallon. Street car fare was 6 cents. A Saturday cowboy movie starring Buck Jones cost 5 cents. Selling fruits and vegetables from a horse and wagon was a common sight. Doctors made house calls. People were lucky if they could get a job with the WPA (Works Progress Administration) that paid $17 per month. Obama made a big mistake by not focusing 24/7 on the economy instead of force feeding us health care.

obbie of ID 6:53PM November 19, 2010

Greed, mostly by unions, especially the public sector unions is killing this country. It's bleeding the local municipalities and state governments dry. They should not get pensions (like most of the private sector) and they should not get “Cadillac” health care plans. You know there’s a huge disparity between the private and government workers when you almost never see the government workers leave their jobs to go to the private sector – it’s too good a deal. So who is government competing with for these employees? The answer is, themselves. They could even cut salaries and benefits (including teachers) and hardly anyone would leave. But of course they don’t do that because the politicians who oversee these contracts get huge campaign contributions from the unions.
I propose a 10% across the board pay cut for all government (local, state, and federal) employees making over $70,000 a year. Elimination of pensions (only provide 401K’s like most everyone else gets) and reduction in how much is spent on the health insurance plans. Also, the maximum bonus that can be paid to an employee should be no more than $5000 per year. The one exception I would make is for anyone in the military – they don’t make that much right now. Also, there should be a 10% reduction in the rates paid to all government contractors (if the rate is over say $65 per hour). These measures would save a lot of money, while not reducing head count – we get the best of both worlds.

Howard M of NY 6:41PM November 19, 2010

Hey Angry, lose your job at the casino? Magazines on paper are phasing out, kudos to US News for seeing this ages ago. The future is reading magazines on iPad-type devices, not from trees. Keep up the work, US News, and Angry, I'd love to know what knowledgeable news sources you use - MSNBC? Farmer's Almanac? The comics?
Can't say I'm a huge fan of these Federal financial ideas because I'm still waiting for someone to have the courage to champion a flat income tax. Depending on a sales tax for revenue is a bad idea - when a recession hits people slow their spending, which means less sales tax revenue. A flat tax rate on everyone is a smarter idea - Americans would no longer be penalized by Washington when they work hard, succeed and earn more money. Now they would have the same rate regardless, and that half of America that currently doesn't pay any income tax would have to start contributing.

LoneWolf of PA 6:08PM November 19, 2010

Didn't you just throw in the towel on your print division? How long do you really think you can make a living with this digital edition?
Good bye Zuckerman, and goodbye Useless News and World Distorts. You sucked when I was in college and you suck worse today.

Angry Reader of NV 5:55PM November 19, 2010