What are your ideas?

A simple way would be to cut the budget back to a level that would be fund able. Total federal revenue was 2.3 trillion dollars. The budget for the 2004 fiscal year was 2.3 trillion dollars. Instantly you would have a totally funded budget. Also we must look at ending are on going wars of occupation. These wars are funded by borrowing and go straight to the deficit. Also emergence spending needs to stop.

I'm no expert on economics or politics. I'm just an average citizen trying to make a living. Granted, I presently live outside of the U.S. but I am well aware of the trouble our country is in. In my view, our economic woes began with capitalism. Greed. To me, the two terms share the same definition. As globalization grew, so did our greed. The greed led to higher prices and to outsourcing, which in turn, led to high unemployment rates and inflation. At the same time this was happening, government spending spun out of control. Not only at the federal level, but the state and local levels as well. I think the only way to get things back on track are to do a bunch of things all at once. For instance, get rid of all unnecessary (pork) items from the budget. Again not only the federal budget, but state and local budgets as well. If a particular state says they need $3 million to, I don't know.....improve historical structures like the Alamo in Texas, let the state come up with the money. Let the citizens of that state vote on whether or not that's where they want their state funds going. Make each state live within their budgets just like the average citizen has to do. If you can't afford it, do you really need it? If you do, then juggle your expenditures to make it work. My mom used to work at the state level for the board of health in Kansas. She was a business office manager. She was provided with so much money annually to operate. There were strings attached, though. She had to spend ALL the money in order to receive the same amount the following year. As a result, her office made a lot of unnecessary purchases just to be able to get the same money the next year. Why not reverse it and make it a submission plan instead. Make a budget prospectus and submit it to the governor for approval. Hold state governor's responsible on that level as well. There are offices that purchased gold toilet seats just to use up their money! That kind of thing happens in every single state. In my mind, the only federal funds that need to be used FOR the country are those that affect ALL citizens. Things like health care, interstates, electrical grids, transportation and education. The rest should be handled by individual states. When I was a kid, there was a lot of pride in "made in the USA" and "buy American". That no longer exists because of globalization. We need to get back to that kind of mentality. Companies prefer to go to India, here to Argentina, various Asian countries just to save on payroll or manufacturing expenses. To me, outsourcing should be illegal. Plain and simple. But see, it's impossible because of how pervasive greed is in American business practices in general. Keep the jobs in the States. People will work, spend, take vacations, etc. It keeps the money flowing. Say what you will, but I'd also put a cap on corporate salaries and bonuses. I don't care what your position is with a company, there is absolutely nothing you do that warrants or deserves a $3 or $5 million bonus! My question is: Just how much money does somebody need?!??! Call it what you will but that stuff is out of control too and a HUGE factor in why prices are so out of control. These are just some of the things that mull around in my brain. Unfortunately, it's gone too far. The only way to really fix it is to wipe the slate clean and start again but that's an impossibility too. A very sad state of affairs.

I am so glad you asked. I always feel that if you are going to bring a problem to the table, you should have a solution. Even if it isnt the right one, it gets the thoughts flowing. I would throw out our gazillion page tax law and have a straight flat across the board usage tax. I would clean up medicare and medicaid. They claim they will be able to save so much.... I would make the vice-presidency a non-paid position, abolish the czar positions and have each area of government shave about 20% every year. I would turn most things back to the states, education, employment etc. I would also pass a law that we will NOT borrow from another country and take over the federal reserve. We pay 1.7 cents to make one penny. Whats wrong with this?

While some corporations are just plain corrupt, I still would lower the tax on corporations/businesses, who hire U.S. workers, to encourage new business in America and to encourage businesses to keep their business in America. The Bill of Rights doesn't guarantee everyone a home, health care, etc. and the federal government needs to get out of the business. These areas of concern belong with the States...the people. I would seriously go after the fraud, waste and abuse in all areas of government; amply reward people, as/if necessary, to become whistleblowers. We need to clean up the corruption in government! As voters, every time one of our Congressmen/Senators votes on an bill with pork in it for our state, we need to vote him/her out, until they get the message, "we're not going to tolerate it anymore." The President must have and USE line-item veto. We need to re-review all laws and regulations. Do we really need it, how much is it really costing us, is there a better way of doing what needs to be done, etc. Outdated laws and unnecessary regulations are driving up the costs of our products to a point where we can't compete. No one wants to buy our products, because they cost too much. There's a bazillion things we could/must do, if we want to survive this mess.