My Federal budget cuts the debt by almost 2/3 over 10 years and provides universal health care.

I decreased the national debt from 11 trillion to 4 trillion over 10 years, while at the same time ensuring that every American had health care.  How in the world did I do that?

Over the past two weeks, I've been coming up with my own Federal budget, using American Public Media's online service Budget Hero.  As I did so, I posted 8 blogs about the choices I made.

I believe it was Thomas Jefferson who said, "When the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government."  I would like to encourage all of you to go through this Budget Hero exercise, so you may better understand the pros and cons of various government expenditures.  People who pretend to do your thinking for you are serving their interests, not yours.

Below are links to those posts, along with a summary of what I did in each area.  A more detailed explanation of why I chose the options I did is in the linked blog.

Military and Diplomacy spending

I brought the troops home soon

Then I cut military spending by 10 percent

I increased foreign aid and diplomacy

Taxes

I ended the Bush tax cuts

I put in place a cap and trade system (even though a straight-out carbon tax would be so much simpler and cost-effective)

I provided a $500 tax credit for workers

I raised the gas tax by 50 cents

I provided a tax credit for education

I raised taxes on multinational corporations

Education and Kids

I ended "no child left behind"

I increased assistance to needy college students

I funded after-school learning opportunities

Science and Nature

I (ow!) grounded the space program (Ouch!)

I funded clean energy research

I increased EPA funding

I created an award for a more efficient car battery

I reduced farm subsidies (though I would have preferred to end them entirely)

Assistance with housing and living

I increased funding for day care

I eliminated a program that retrained workers who lost jobs due to "free trade"

I increased food stamp funding

Funding for infrastructure

I increased mass transit funding

I gave temporary aid to state governments

I raised airport security fees

I increased Amtrak funding

Misc. spending

I eliminated all porkbarrel spending

I doubled funding for the Food and Drug Administration

I tightened product oversight

Health care

I extended the federal health plan to all uninsured persons

Social Security Insurance

I raised the social security age

I cut benefits for the wealthy

Then I cut another 5% from the program (all from those most comfortable)

--------------

The above choices reduced Federal spending over the next 10 years by (carriage return needed here): $5,957,700,000,000.

What would you do differently?  Go to Budget Hero and give it a try yourself.