Who are these economists that think a balanced budgect amendment is a good idea?!?!?

[pinkkillersheep]

It's just a lie. I almost can't believe Boehner is out there LYING. The worst part is...the American people will eat it up. They always do.

[tridim]

1. People paid by RW think tanks.

[Ruby the Liberal]

2. Yep, and in Ayn Randian land where national defense isn't needed, natural disasters don't happen

infrastructure builds and repairs itself and greed is unheard of, they would be right.

[handmade34]

3. the only reason

anybody wants a "balanced budget" is because the conservatives have been successful in spreading the myth that we pay too much in taxes and in general people think that if we balance the budget, their taxes will go down considerably..

so many lies.....

[michaz]

4. There should be a law, that if you lie blatantly like he did, you have to "fall on your sword"! n/t

[whosinpower]

5. balance it with tax increases.....

You can't cut your prices to prosperity.

We are given the analogy that government should be run like a business....which of course, it absolutely should not - but let's play that game....

I am a business that has fixed costs that increase invariably over time - rent goes up, heat, lighting, insurance, wages, etc, etc....they all go up over time.

Do I A) raise prices to bring my budget into balance

B) cut prices and hope against hope that this will increase revenue with increased demand

The reality is that if my business model is sound, and is being supported by my community - raising prices will not lose me customers as long as they still feel they are getting good value for their dollar, and that they have faith in me. Taking it even further, I have found that when I raised my prices, I actually gained customers instead of losing them.
If I slash prices three times, whine about falling revenues, become mizerly, stop supporting the community that supported me - is indicative that I no longer have faith in my community - and they will abandon me faster than ice cream melting on the equater.

The US government is not the Dollar store for goodness sakes. Tax cuts had the total opposite effect than what was desired - it did not increase growth. It did not increase demand. The economy will never recover until people begin to feel optimistic, until they begin to feel confident, until they begin to find jobs - and austerity plans will never ever ever do that.

So - if government wants to balance their budget - which is, in principle, not a bad idea - they must be open to raising taxes, closing loopholes and stopping oil companies, farm subsidies, etc those entitlements they so dearly love.