Re: Obama XII: The shine is off the glass slipper
Well, you've got 12.8 million people on SSI & SSDI. Claims have jumped by 700,000 since 2008. I'd have to say that there are a number of fraudulent claims in that group. Start with that--I've seen the abuse of SSI first-hand working in banks.
The military needs to clean up its act. While they are the best fighting force in the world, they leave much to be desired when it comes to efficiency and cost control measures. That'd be #2 on my list; I'm certain that at least a 10-15% cost savings could be achieved solely on cost control measures.
Cracking down on Medicare fraud/waste/abuse was one of Obama's selling points for his health care bill. He got his bill, yet I haven't seen nor heard anything about how the $500 billion annually in wastefraudabuse is going to be sniffed out and stopped. That would put a HUGE dent in the deficit, though I'm not holding my breath waiting for anything to happen. Obama said he'd address the federal budget; it's been a year and a half and nothing on that front.
Aside from that, eliminating tax loopholes wouldn't be an altogether bad idea. This would allow for the lowering of tax rates across the board, and also allow for the bottom tax bracket to include everyone down to the lowest earners. Obviously, there will most likely never be agreement on a flat/fair/VA tax. Even if the lowest bracket were at 5-6% rate, an income tax implementation policy (tax increases/decreases being proportional across all brackets) it would take away incentive for our politicians to attempt to buy votes with biased class-warfare-style tax policies, and would draw much-needed public attention to federal fiscal policies and expenditures.
Just my two cents.
Well, you've got 12.8 million people on SSI & SSDI. Claims have jumped by 700,000 since 2008. I'd have to say that there are a number of fraudulent claims in that group. Start with that--I've seen the abuse of SSI first-hand working in banks.
The military needs to clean up its act. While they are the best fighting force in the world, they leave much to be desired when it comes to efficiency and cost control measures. That'd be #2 on my list; I'm certain that at least a 10-15% cost savings could be achieved solely on cost control measures.
Cracking down on Medicare fraud/waste/abuse was one of Obama's selling points for his health care bill. He got his bill, yet I haven't seen nor heard anything about how the $500 billion annually in wastefraudabuse is going to be sniffed out and stopped. That would put a HUGE dent in the deficit, though I'm not holding my breath waiting for anything to happen. Obama said he'd address the federal budget; it's been a year and a half and nothing on that front.
Aside from that, eliminating tax loopholes wouldn't be an altogether bad idea. This would allow for the lowering of tax rates across the board, and also allow for the bottom tax bracket to include everyone down to the lowest earners. Obviously, there will most likely never be agreement on a flat/fair/VA tax. Even if the lowest bracket were at 5-6% rate, an income tax implementation policy (tax increases/decreases being proportional across all brackets) it would take away incentive for our politicians to attempt to buy votes with biased class-warfare-style tax policies, and would draw much-needed public attention to federal fiscal policies and expenditures.
Just my two cents.
