Only One Solution

We can't help but wonder how much coverage the corporate media will give to other plans to reduce the deficit. To what extent will the corporate media follow conservative talking points by repeating endlessly that the only way to solve the problem is by cutting existing programs--and completely ignore growth and job creation as viable alternatives.

Alternative plans DO exist. Alternative possibilities DO exist. Austerity DOES NOT have to happen:

The Blueprint takes a very different approach from other prominent proposals, specifically prioritizing a strong economic recovery because widespread job creation and robust economic growth are essential to successful deficit reduction.

The plan will produce the following short- and long-term results:

Substantial and sustained increased funding for job creation and investments, especially in the near term; A budget path that significantly improves the 10-year budget outlook;

A transition from a primary deficit to a primary surplus in 2018, and sustainable debt levels by the end of the decade;

An improvement in the long-term path for public debt, stabilizing debt as a share of the economy beyond 2025;

A solid footing for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for the long term; and A modernized tax code that raises adequate revenue fairly and efficiently.

The Blueprint’s budget path boosts funding for near-term job creation, achieves lower deficits in the medium-term and balances the primary federal budget in less than a decade. It does so with the recognition that boosting—rather than cutting—spending on national priorities, including infrastructure, transportation, technology and education, is critical to American prosperity.

If our entire economy's health is predicated on spending money, then how can it be a good thing to freeze wages? Or to not invest in infrastructure, transportation, technology, or education? See, 'cause if people don't have money, they don't buy stuff. That's kind of an important concept here. Firing people, freezing wages and not investing in our country won't help matters.

Here are some more ideas you'll never hear or see again:

Use our tax dollars wisely by making targeted, common-sense cuts to military spending.

Shore up funding for Social Security by expanding the payroll tax to include more of the earnings of high-income individuals.

Get the economy back on track by investing in immediate job creation and a strong economic recovery.

Do you need to be reminded that it's all about the children (like they say in church)?

Create the foundation for long-run economic growth by increasing investment in early childhood education, quality child care, infrastructure, public transit, rural broadband connectivity and research and development.

And before we go, do you need to be reminded that you are not a millionaire?

Rebalance the tax code by repealing the Bush-era tax cuts for top earners and by taxing capital gains and dividends as ordinary income.

Who wrote this strange report?

Demos, EPI and The Century Foundation have produced a budget blueprint for economic recovery and fiscal responsibility. The blueprint prioritizes a strong economic recovery because widespread job creation and robust economic growth are essential to successful deficit reduction. Investing in America's Future is a project of Demos, EPI and The Century Foundation.

We will not have a strong economy unless and until the middle class is strong again. Policies that result in weakening the middle class even further will not help. But those will be the only policy options presented to us by politicians and the corporate media.