The Impossible Task of Balancing the United States Budget

The Impossible Task of Balancing the United States Budget

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As the United States faces growing deficits and nations around the world start tightening their fiscal policy, a lot of discussion has come up about balancing the United States budget. People are demanding fiscal responsibility which is causing people to start looking at the government books and figuring out where money can be saved. However, when it comes to fully balancing the United States budget, there are a lot of difficult choices that have to be made.

The first challenge facing the United States government when it comes to cutting the deficit is evaluating what responsibilities the government must continue to maintain. People mention an expectation that they'd like to see the government work to create jobs. Does that process involve stimulus spending? In which case, the government will not be able to remove a lot of its spending programs that are directed towards spurring growth and contributing to business investment.

Another major area, is what is often seen as the big three in spending. Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and Defense spending amounted to 60% of the United States budget in 2009, more than the total income of the United States government during that period. If we're going to balance the budget, these areas will have to see significant cuts. The difficult question is which of these areas can be cut without committing political suicide and guaranteeing you never get reelected?

Social Security is a difficult area to cut as that is money that people have been contributing towards their entire lives, and as such, are largely entitled to it. Medicare and Medicaid are the only ways many people are able to get health care, and without these programs, a tremendous amount of people would be facing dangerous life decisions. The only remaining area is defense spending, a part of the budget that is often viewed as untouchable, due to the country's emphasis on national security.

As such, it's difficult to see what will happen as talks begin about balancing the United States budget. Many people believe fiscal responsibility is important, but the difficult question that arises, is at what cost?

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