Budget Crises Averted???

Congratulations to our fine politicians for working long hours to come together to make a budget for 2011! Problem solved, we can all go about are daily life... Poppycock! They say a picture is a worth a thousand words and Michael Ramirez's Political Cartoon from IBD is no exception to that rule. I thank Barry Ritholtz's Big Picture Blog with finding this gem and calling it: "Our Absurd Budget Debate"

My take on it is simple and is best summed up when I talk to different people about it.
Liberal Friend: "We need to not spend as much on defense and foreign wars"
Hunter: Yes you are 100% correct!

Conservative Friend: "We need to cut spending on entitlements like Medicare & Social Security"
Hunter: You're damn right we need to!

Liberal Friend: "If our country eliminated the corporate tax loop holes & corporate welfare/subsidies we could start to get this budget under control."
Hunter: Absofucklutely we should do that and create a level playing field for business! I'm looking at you General Electic!

Conservative Friend: "Our government bureaucracy has grown so large and bloated we need to eliminate programs and privatize where we can."
Hunter: You my friend are preaching to the choir!

Liberal Friend: "We are going to have to increase revenues in the forms of taxes."
Hunter: Damn, you are right. I don't like it but we are going to have to fix this mess. I say we eliminate some of the 3.8million pages of IRS tax code by getting rid of a ton of deductions and raising the effect tax rate. Taxes are going to have to go up in one form or another.

Conservative Friend: "The country/states/cities spend too much on inefficient unionized government workers that have higher pay and outrageous benefits compared to those they take from in the form taxes."
Hunter: So you're saying that we shouldn't pay somebody more in their lifetime for not working (pensions) versus working. Then not allow them to collectively bargain against the "people" where there is no alternative, but to be forced to work with the union & its demands. It sounds like there is zero competition. Well that doesn't make sense at all. Why wouldn't anybody want to curtail their power and cut where you can? That's brilliant!

Well what does this dialog sound like? It's AUSTERITY and its coming to a neighborhood near you. We can deal with our problems by easing into austerity and "lick our wounds" over time. Or we can continue to procastinate and get 100% Austerity sooner then we think when our economy & government collapses. Then we might be looking at possible a deflationary depression or a hyper-inflation crisis. Not fun.

I don't find these problems and solutions difficult to identify no matter what political side of the fence you come from. We all have to live together so let's come together and fix this mess. The sacred cows of both political parties will have to be put to the alter! People should be pissed off and demand this political charade stop!