Let's Cut The Defecit

Bill,

The Wall Street Journal has an online do-it-yourself deficit cutting tool.  It's quite instructive and more than a little humbling. What struck me was how little money many of the most talked about changes actually save. Below are a few examples

Proposed Change	Revenue Saved (in Billions)	% of Deficit
Increase Medicare eligibility age	30	2.7
Phase out social security COLAs	20	1.8
Repeal home mortgage interest deduction	50	4.5
Eliminate funding for new energy technology	2	0.18

If you make every available cut to entitlements the calculator offers, including repeal of the ACA, you still only cut the deficit in half. 

It's easy to see why each side is waiting for the other to blink particularly when it comes to suggesting specific spending cuts. 

I'll leave my attempt online for your inspection.

Eli