Recently I went to Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget site, Budget Simulator | Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, and ran the budget simulator. The objective is stabilize the U.S. Debt at 60% of GDP by 2018. I think I came up with budget cuts and tax increases that amounted to 58% of the GDP. It is amazing how many of the programs listed in the simulator do not personally affect me, my extended family, or my friends. I kept the troop deployment amounts for Iraq and Afghanistan since these troop deployments are winding down but I let the Bush tax cuts expire. This simulation which appears to mimic the opinions of the voters in the last election is a particularly bad omen for our politicians trying to protect special interests like labor unions, education, farm subsidies, and advanced weapon programs. A roll back to spending levels we had in 2008 or earlier would work for me, too.
