“I could end the deficit in five minutes.  You just pass a law that says

that any time there’s a deficit of more than three percent of GDP, all

sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election. ” …

 Warren Buffet.

6 Responses to “a great idea from Warren Buffet”

1. RacerJim
   July 31st, 2011 @ 4:31 am

   Just goes to substantiate that ages old adage “Keep It Simple Stupid”

2. Another friend
   July 31st, 2011 @ 5:54 am

   That’s right. Keep it simple, Obey the constitution.

3. William
   July 31st, 2011 @ 7:22 am

   I disagree,

   With the GDP approximately 14-16 trillion annually, why would anyone wait until after 3 percent of your total income to act?

   The total spending budget by the Federal Government should never exceed 20 percent of the Gross GDP. Not 3 percent after 100 percent spent.

   Is this what anyone at home or a private business would do? Of course not. If you have a monthly income of 5,000, do you wait until you spend 3 percent above and beyond that to understand your spending is out of control?

   Folks, We do not have a Debt Ceiling Problem, We have a “Spending Problem”…

4. William
   July 31st, 2011 @ 8:08 am

   Just to add,

   I am speaking about total U.S. debt not exceeding 20 percent of GDP. Not just the Federal annual budget deficit (as Warren is speaking of). All Obligations, should never exceed 20 percent of GDP.

   The federal debt held by the public was
   $5.0 trillion as recently as the end of 2009. That’s the entire amount of debt, cumulative of the “entire history of the US”.

   Fast forward to 2011, where the cumulative
   debt is projected to be $10.4T. So we’ve doubled the debt in less than four years. In four years we’ve grown the deficit as much the entire previous history of the United States.

   just to clarify,

5. Jerry Brown
   July 31st, 2011 @ 7:28 pm

   The law is already on the books… Title 31 US Code subtitle II chapter 11. 1103 Budget ceiling: “Congress reaffirms its commitment that budget outlays of the United States Government for a fiscal year may be not more than the receipts of the Government for that year.”

   Passed by the 95 congress in 1978!

   So what’s the penalty for violating this law? Nothing? Right now it’s just words on paper, but if the Tea Party folks pushed for the addition of penalties (effective immediately) oh, like say, immediate termination and a fine equal to the current annual salary times the number of years served – minimum of two years. That should slow the debt down a bit!

   Jerry Brown

6. William
   August 1st, 2011 @ 4:53 am

   Jerry,

   I like your suggestion of some form of penalty, unfortunately, there are none.

   You may already know this, but the United States is the ONLY Country in the World that has a Debt Ceiling – separate – from its Budget.

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