Time for a Balanced Budget?

Regardless of politics, the vast majority of Americans would like to see more fiscal responsibility in Washington. A balanced budget doesn't seem so hard, does it? Bill Clinton did it! Well, it's not so easy. Tax more? Spend less? What about entitlements including Social Security and Medicare? Defense?. Pre-Covid, over 50% of the the US budget was entitlements (56% in 2019). So other than taxing more, where do we cut?

If lawmakers take raising taxes and cutting Medicare, Social Security, defense and veterans programs off the table, Congress would need to cut 85% of spending in all other categories to balance the budget in 10 years, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan budget group.

Friday Fun Facts: State Edition

Flush Tax:

To limit the amount of flushing, the state of Maryland imposes an excessive flush tax for those that use the toilet more than their government would like.

Playing Card Tax:

Alabama charges 10 cents per deck of playing cards. So what, that's not much. Well maybe this is why Alabama is not know for casinos. Casinos go through a lot of cards each year. The range is in the 25,000 to 100,000 decks. I wonder if they could sneak them in from Mississippi!