No this is not a dumbed down description of the debt ceiling. Qualified academics overwhelmingly agree with President Obama that the debt ceiling is an unnecessary impediment. Focus should be on balancing the budget and bringing American expenses in line with our capacity to govern.
Need for governance and need for government services is a place to begin in determining a sustainable economy. Then, we must consider economic performance. What percentage of GDP should be allocated to addressing the nation’s needs? Or, what are the needs, and how much do they cost? Then, do the math.
“Wonkbook’s Number of the Day: 84 percent. That’s the share of academics surveyed by the IGM Forum, a project of the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, who think the debt ceiling is a dumb idea. If both houses of Congress must approve spending and taxes, then a separate debt ceiling is redundant. For more, see Wonkbook’s special section on the debt ceiling.”
Wonkblog’s Graph of the Day: The best way to compare the American tax burden to those abroad.
(See the picture)
"No, the U.S. is not a high-tax country. But saying exactly how not-high-tax we are gets a little tricky.
The graph at the top of this article comes from a KPMG report excavated by Henry Blodget. It shows personal tax rates on $100,000 around the world. The U.S. comes in at 55th out of 114.
As for the richest one or two percentiles of earners, we come in at practically the same place: 53rd-highest. Reminder: The fiscal-cliff tax hike kicks in about $100,000 above this level."
Doing the math correctly is difficult because we have a qualification-impaired Congress resulting from We the People failing to produce the best and brightest candidates for office.
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