Editorial

Greg Gerritt: How to end the deficit

The editorial in the December 19 Providence Journal “Money pours in, but the debt grows” was rather misguided. It is entirely possible to provide good healthcare to every American without busting the budget.   Here is what we should do to eliminate the deficit. The American people already pay for nearly all of the basic research in medical advances. The

Rhode Island News: Greg Gerritt: How to end the deficit

December 19, 2018, 5:10 pm

By Greg Gerritt

The editorial in the December 19 Providence Journal “Money pours in, but the debt grows” was rather misguided. It is entirely possible to provide good healthcare to every American without busting the budget.  

Here is what we should do to eliminate the deficit. The American people already pay for nearly all of the basic research in medical advances. The people should start collecting royalties for all the privatized research that we paid for. Manage the price of drugs and institute prevention as our main health care strategy. We could save a trillion dollars a year practicing prevention, especially if we stopped polluting and poisoning the public

Tax millionaires and hedge funds at a higher rate than currently. The deficit always goes up after tax cuts. But the economy responds very weakly to them, and for very short times.  

Close 90 percent of the 800 foreign bases the US military maintains around the world. We never get to peace because those like Senator Inhofe make too much money from killing. $730 billion dollars plus black operations and more nuclear weapons is truly insane. We would be safer if we spent far less and we quit igniting wars. 

Quit subsidizing the fossil fuel industries. Sea level rise, hurricanes, fires, and floods are creating a huge hole in the economy and the budget. Take half of the money saved from closing military bases around the world and build climate resilient and clean energy infrastructure.  

The economy and the taxpayers will be much happier.