Federal Budget Must be Reduced :: Argumentative Persuasive Economics Papers

Federal Budget Must be Reduced The annual multibillion-dollar federal budget threatens the future of the United States and must be reduced.To cut the size of the deficit, federal revenues must be increased, and federal outlays must be reduced, or a combination of the two may be used.Under the 1990 budget agreement, Congress cut defense spending and benefits to veterans, farmers, and Medicare and Medicaid patients. In addition, the agreement increased taxes for the wealthiest Americans and phased out some of their tax exemptions. The act also raised taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, gasoline, and airline tickets. ("Current Issues". Close-Up Foundation,1993.) This was a good first step, at balancing rather than rolling over the debt to future generations. However, the Republicans need to find some more support to get another such agreement passed. Expensive defense programs that were once necessary are no longer needed. The money that was once used for defense should be put toward lowering the budget deficit, which grows at the rate of $10,000 per second and stood as $5,020,705,156,014 at eight o'clock p.m. on November 13, 1995. This is according to the National Debt Clock ([Debt Clock], //www.fusebox.com/debtclock/). Because Americans are not willing to sacrifice social programs, the only alternative is to raise taxes. Americans may not like it, but they need to pay for the government services they want and need. However, this increase in taxes should be kept in perspective, since a tax increase will reduce personal income and business profits. Too high of an increase in taxes will only stifle economic growth by reducing the money businesses would have to invest in expansion and job creation. The latest step in balancing the budget was a stop-gap spending bill which passed through the House of Representatives November 8, 1995, ([CNN-House passes stop-gap spending bill-Nov.8,1995], http://www.cnn.com//US/9511/budget/index.html) This bill reduces the funding for some programs. On Monday, President Clinton vetoed the stop-gap spending measure, and a debt limit extension calling them "too high a price"