The president proposed a 2013 budget of a little over $3.8 trillion, which is up slightly from 2012. This will produce a deficit of approximately $900 billion this year. The president has said that he has already agreed to cut $1 trillion over these next 10 years; however, his budget is set to increase another $400 billion per year while he is in office. Where are these cuts? The sequester will cut $85 billion this year or 2.2 percent of the proposed budget. According to the administration, this 2.2 percent will devastate the country.

Pregnant women will be thrown out on the street, old people will starve, the borders will be left wide open and our military will dissolve to Third World status. There is absolutely nothing to cut. There is no waste in government.

Our only way out is to close loopholes to get those greedy rich to pay their fair share. Unfortunately, the revenue we raise from those greedy rich comes nowhere close to getting our deficits under control. The only way we will make a dent is to repeal the Bush-era tax cuts for everyone. This will continue to let the government provide all those necessary services at the levels we have become accustomed to. It also meets the president’s goal in his budget of having “everyone” pay their fair share. Or, then again, maybe we can find something to cut.

Tom Hall

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