Reining in That Deficit

I noticed yesterday the Times had a fun budget simulator that allowed visitors to try and solve the elusive deficit crisis in America.  So I gave it shot.

Then today I noticed so did Matt Yglesias.  But his budget sucks and mine is much better.  As I was calculating my world's greatest deficit slasher, I saw where it gave the option to raise the Medicare age rather than Social Security.  I have always thought it makes much more sense to raise the Medicare age requirement than Social Security.  Since it makes so much sense to do so, the chances of it happening in America are slim to none, which is why we hear absolutely nothing about it on our teevee sets.

After seeing the option to raise the Medicare age, I clicked it.  By the time I got to the end of the calculator, I had solved the deficit crisis.  How did I do such an impossible thing you ask?  Being the Obama supporter that I am I must have raised taxes on everyone and eliminated the military, right?  Not quite.  My calculations are 43% from spending cuts and I simply returned taxes to Clinton levels (you know when we had huge surpluses).  And then the real kicker came from when I clicked that box to raise Medicare to age 70.

What I might do for fun is enter in the scenario that Republicans assure us will work: Cut taxes, get rid of those pesky ear marks that make up less than 1% of the budget, keep fighting our Glorious Wars, and try my hardest to get rid of Social Security and Medicare.  I'm positive it will result in the most Patriotic Budget ever!

*Update:

Much to my disappointment, when enacting Republican policies they claim will rein in that deficit, I still end up with huge long-term and short-term deficits.  How can this be??

I will say the calculator makes it a little tricky.  First of all, it doesn't give me the option to do away with Social Security, Medicare, the Department of Education or the Federal Reserve.  Not sure who put this calculator together but they didn't do it with America in mind.  So I have to pick the next best Republican proposals, which are enact medical malpractice reform and make benefits stingier. Those apparently will save us $166 billion over the next 20 years.  Hardly a drop in the bucket for deficit reduction.

Taxes are pretty much a non-issue.  The only raise is a very modest one in adopting the Lincoln-Kyl estate tax proposal that only taxes estates above $5 million.  And I'm not even sure the GOP would support that.  If not the Kyl plan then there are no tax increases at all.

I did, however, cut foreign aid in half.  I totally whipped the piss out of ear marks by eliminating them all together. I cut federal employees pay by 5% (commie reds).  I also reduced the entire federal civilian workforce by 10%!  I got rid of 250,000 government contractors that were just living off the government's tit.  And then I cut state aid by 5% but would have done more if the calculator would have let me.

In all, my Patriotic Budget Deficit Reduction Plan is made up of 94% in spending cuts and 6% from tax increases.  Giving us a long-term deficit of roughly $1 trillion. But it's Patriotic and it's 100% Tough Guy so nothing else matters.

**Update:

Matt Yglesias tries to one up me by bringing in another deficit calculator and then blaming his sucky budget on the designers of the calculators.  His latest budget scheme is from CEPR in which Matt brings the deficit to 50% GDP by 2020.  Well Matthew, my CEPR budget is 48% of GDP by 2020.  Go tea bag that you islamofascistterroristliberal.