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There's been a whole lot of posturing recently on the nation's debt crisis. Items in the news that could affect your readers:
-- President Obama said Tuesday that Social Security checks may not go out next month if something isn't done about the debt ceiling by Aug. 2. (At that point, the country will have reached its $14.3 trillion debt limit and won't be able to borrow more cash.) If Social Security checks are delayed, other services like welfare and Medicare may not be far behind. Ask local social service agencies what they foresee happening to their local clients if there isn't a solution reached in three weeks, and note that this scenario has played out before -- what happened then?
-- The president's plan for tax and budget-process reform also sets its sights on Social Security, health care spending and mandatory retirement-savings programs. Do your readers see anywhere else the government could make cuts, or help people on government-aided programs so they aren't reliant upon them? Ask financial experts what "broke" countries like Greece and Ireland have done (or haven't done) in their debt crises that could work for the U.S.
-- This month, some top financial minds got together in Aspen to discuss debt solutions. Some ideas included taxing those who make more than $250,000 a year, streamlining defense spending and cutting back on unemployment benefits and other government programs like Medicare. While those of us under $250K a year may think taxing the rich is a good idea, what do the wealthy think? How about those on unemployment, or receiving other kinds of government assistance? Cutbacks may affect the rich and the poor.
There's been a whole lot of posturing recently on the nation's debt crisis. Items in the news that could affect your readers:
-- President Obama said Tuesday that Social Security checks may not go out next month if something isn't done about the debt ceiling by Aug. 2. (At that point, the country will have reached its $14.3 trillion debt limit and won't be able to borrow more cash.) If Social Security checks are delayed, other services like welfare and Medicare may not be far behind. Ask local social service agencies what they foresee happening to their local clients if there isn't a solution reached in three weeks, and note that this scenario has played out before -- what happened then?
-- The president's plan for tax and budget-process reform also sets its sights on Social Security, health care spending and mandatory retirement-savings programs. Do your readers see anywhere else the government could make cuts, or help people on government-aided programs so they aren't reliant upon them? Ask financial experts what "broke" countries like Greece and Ireland have done (or haven't done) in their debt crises that could work for the U.S.
-- This month, some top financial minds got together in Aspen to discuss debt solutions. Some ideas included taxing those who make more than $250,000 a year, streamlining defense spending and cutting back on unemployment benefits and other government programs like Medicare. While those of us under $250K a year may think taxing the rich is a good idea, what do the wealthy think? How about those on unemployment, or receiving other kinds of government assistance? Cutbacks may affect the rich and the poor.
