The Barnyard

fair enough question. i think the military can but cut, absolutely. we could begin by getting out of afghanistan asap. we do not need to let our guard down against threats from abroad or at home but is there fat? sure

cutting welfare? does that include social security medicare medicaid etc or are you just talking about food stamps type of welfare?

i ask cause that determines how much money you can cut. i think with a single payer health care system we could cease medicare and medicaid and just have health care. i am positive we could do as well but cheaper. if you call this socialism ok call it that but it would save us trillions over the long haul

reform social security raise the retirement age. cap the benefits & encourage young people to invest and diversify, but keep the s.s. social net for the truly needy

legalize some number of recreational drugs like pot, tax it to death put that money in health care.

education? i think we need to invest wisely in areas of technology for schools. if we do something reasonable we can offer the youngsters a hope instead of what they look at now....an abysmal world with dang little prospect unless you know somebody have money already or are just charming handsome and ingratiating like me

Definitely agree on cutting military budgets. I think a lot of this will come down naturally now that it looks the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down. We will be paying a lot less soldiers. I am also of the opinion that we should start looking to close some of our military bases in Germany. The made sense during the Cold War, but I don't think it is that important anymore.

I would scale back some welfare programs as well. Medicare/Medicaid are good programs. I think Social Security should be scaled back and the minimum age to collect it raised. I think there are some good laws with unemployment, but they are not enforced properly. You are supposed to show you are interviewing or applying for jobs you are qualified for and if you get offered a job, your unemployment is supposed to be cut, but this doesn't happen for whatever reason.

I disagree with cuts to Higher Education. I think this is crucial, as having a helathy university system not only serves the citizens of the state, but it draws more research and research dollars to the state. It also leads to a more educated workforce, which in my opinion is a great thing.

I think the solution is to approach this from both directions. Cut back some spending and enforcing regulations will go a long way. But we should also try to raise revenue. As recent as 2009, the cigarette tax was only 7 cents a pack, which generates roughly 28 million dollars a year. By raising the tax to a dollar a pack (the national average) we would generate 390 million dollars, which would be a huge boom. That money could go to higher education, improving the poor facilities at some of the schools along I-95, or a variety of other programs.

Another huge potential boom would be building casinos in Myrtle Beach. Already our states biggest tourist destination, we would become and even bigger one and could market ourselves as an Atlantic City of the South. This may not go over well with the social conservatives that have a lot of power in the state, but the taxes on casinos would provide a ton of revenue and would draw in more tourism in general that otherwise wouldn't have come.

I will add what ABC pointed out. Legalize and heavily tax marijuana. A heavy percentage of people my age (25-33% I would guess) smoke it in varying amounts already. If they are going to do so anyway, let them do it when it is state regulated and state taxed. Not only would the stuff be healthier, but it would produce millions in revenue.

Between these three you are looking at hundreds of millions of dollars generated without really raising taxes on regular hardworking families. Sure it sucks for people who smoke cigarettes, but perhaps some of them would stop smoking, which would have residual effects on the overall health of South Carolinians.

Exactly! Myrtle Beach is essentially a redux of the Jersey Shore, so why not profit on this. It could be incredibly lucrative.

When you belong to the extreme right as you do, there is no moderate. Forty percent of America now condsider themselves moderate independent which leaves the extreme right at fifteen and irrrlevant except when they are ranting.

John, are you trying to use facts, figures, and logic when debating a liberal? BT's posts are so ludicrous in so many different ways it's almost a waste of time to address any further. It may be more productive to just bang your head against a wall...just a suggestion.

Any thing other than extreme right is liberal, why do either of you even care what the majority of America thinks or does.

You are not in the majority...sorry to break that to you. If you didn't realize before that you are a liberal...I'm here to confirm that for you. Please see chart above for "facts and figures"...or just keep making stuff up if you like.

Interesting charts, more of less confirmed my suspicions. I do find it unfortunate the less and less people tend to indentify themselves as moderate or independent.

Not even big spur?

What Hitler did went far beyond any normal political opinions.