Balance the Budget

There is an interesting Flash game that attempts to see how well one could balance the budget.  Surveying suggests that most Americans desire a balanced budget without making any real cuts and cutting taxes.  Going into the game, I had already a small list of things I was willing to cut and taxes didn’t scare me.  Of the 3 merit badges I sought to get, I failed to get all 3.  The simulation did state that I was a downsizer, attacked debt, and had thankful grandchildren.  One of the nice things I did was choose one of the national health plans, specifically the one taxing companies that didn’t provide benefits and using those dollars to allow individuals to purchase from the feds.  Unfortunately I was only able to cut defense by 10%.  I would have liked to cut it by 65-80%.  I did add 50 cents to the gas tax.  One of the advantages of being a dictator is being able to dictate.  🙂  I didn’t take the freebees availabe in cutting waste and earmarks, because I don’t think those are particularly honest approaches to budget planning.