Presidential Advice on Budget Reduction
Name
Institution
Although most countries depend on borrowing and debt to finance economic development within their borders, the habit could sometimes plunge them into a crisis if careful considerations are not undertaken. The United States is one of the nations that have unfortunately found themselves within this crisis. The country, in 2008, reported a 100% increase in debt over the national GDP (Magstadt, 2007). The trend continued for the subsequent years, prompting the government to implement budget cuts in order to remedy the condition before it became severe. Ideally, if I were a presidential advisor, I would advise the president to implement budget cuts on some sectors and not others.
The first budget cut that I would propose would be on the African countries foreign aid. The United States has supported these countries for over forty years, but they fail to show any progressive economic development (Whitman Cobb, 2019). Any additional support does not assure that they will achieve significant economic outcomes. Unless these countries achieve corruption-free governments, support from the United States might not have an impact on the lives of ordinary citizens.
A second budget cut that I would advise the president to implement would be on military expenditure directed towards efforts to stop the missile defence plan for “Star Wars”. I believe that the program is currently not as urgent as other national sectors. It can be halted for a certain period depending on the global defence needs. It should only be funded when the United States’ government has ascertained that there is an urgent need for it (Whitman Cobb, 2019).
Thirdly, I would advise the president to implement a budget cut on the ‘return the estate tax to Clinton-era levels’. Here, any one-million-worth estate passed to an heir would be taxed accordingly. The primary reasons for implementing this tax is to significantly narrow the economic variation between the poor and the wealthy. Put differently, as individuals become wealthier, the amount of tax they pay increases.
Lastly, I would recommend to the president to reconsider budget cuts on the new taxes. The president should impose additional taxation on banks based on their sizes and the amount of risk they participate in. Equally, extra taxes should be imposed on carbon-emitting companies to limit environmental pollution (Whitman Cobb, 2019). Essentially, any extra amount derived from these increased taxations should be directed to other critical government services.
References
Magstadt, T. M. (2017). Understanding politics: Ideas, institutions, and issues (12th Ed.) Boston, MA: Cengage Learning
Whitman Cobb, W. N. (2019). Political Science Today (1st Ed). SAGE Publications.