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PrintHopeful signs on fiscal cliff
Editor, Index-Tribune:
People across our district and nation are counting on us to work together and find a way to avoid the fiscal cliff. After meeting with my Ways and Means Committee colleagues from both sides of the aisle, and being briefed on leadership meetings at the White House, I am cautiously optimistic that we can find common ground and begin addressing our deficit challenges this year.
The fiscal cliff gives us an opportunity to put policies in place that will set our nation on a fiscally sustainable path. To get on this path, we need a balanced, long-term approach that focuses on three things.
First, we need to invest in job creation. More jobs will mean more revenue to help get us out of the red. Second, we will have to take a hard look at all government programs and make sure taxpayers are getting the most bang for their buck. If a program isn’t working or running efficiently, it needs to be cut or fixed.
Defense cuts must also be on the table. A strong national defense doesn’t have to be the most expensive national defense, and there are cuts to be made that won’t put a single American life at risk.
Finally, third, everyone must pay their fair share. We can’t just cut our way out of the hole we’re in. We cannot keep extending tax cuts to those who need them the least at the expense of our long-term fiscal sustainability.
Solving this challenge won’t be easy, but working together, I am confident we can reach an agreement that is good for our nation’s fiscal future, puts people to work, and protects Social Security and Medicare.
Mike Thompson
Member of Congress
1st District of California
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Congressman Thompson, I have one question, what is 'their fair share'? If you keep asking successful people to try to bail out this country, they will leave. Take a look at California, this state actually voted to raise their taxes. Wasn't the Lottery supposed to support education? How's that working out? Someone recently called California 'the parasite's paradise'...and that's not far from the truth. California has 12% of the population of the U.S., we take 33% of the nation's welfare money, and illegals cost this state $13 BILLION. California current taxes, right now, highest sales tax, second highest gas tax, personal income tax, second highest,and these are nationally...corporate tax, highest in the west. California has the third worst state business tax climate in the nation. A huge number of people and businesses are leaving the state. California is on the cusp of having more takers than makers. You might get to work on cutting some of these programs that create hammocks rather than safety nets for those who are in need, rather than taxing the successful who are choosing to stay and fight their way through the mess you and your democratic friends created in this state. Oh...and please secure the border.
Mr. Thompson, your colleagues Mr. Simpson and Mr. Bowles see clearly that the most fundamental programs to be addressed are Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid that account for over half of federal spending now.
Everything else is of nominal significance compared these ballooning entitlements that are already funded with borrowed money.