WASHINGTON POST COLUMN: When it comes to the federal budget, what consistently unites Democrats and Republicans is their common capacity to lie to themselves, lie to the public and postpone any serious discussion of the central issues of government spending and taxes. I use the word “lie” reluctantly because it is an unforgiving moral marker. Still, it is the correct word…
To me, the conclusion is obvious: We can no longer fit all desirable spending under a ceiling of 20 percent of GDP. We can’t pay for an adequate defense, protect the elderly and sustain important other domestic programs (from the FBI to Pell grants) at 20 percent of GDP. I don’t know whether the right number is 22 percent or something else. But it’s not 20 percent. The fact that we run sizable deficits at 20 percent means that a balanced budget would require hefty tax increases.
It would also require significant spending cuts to limit the tax increase. For Social Security and Medicare, we should slowly raise eligibility ages to reflect longer life expectancies, perhaps to 69 or 70 over 15 years. Likewise, we should trim benefits for wealthier retirees. Obsolete programs (say, farm subsidies) should end. Military compensation should be overhauled. But even if all these cuts were made, desirable spending would exceed 20 percent of GDP… (more)
