Benjamin Franklin once said; that of all the possibilities in life two things are certain, death and taxes. Simply, in a democracy taxes are the people’s way of paying for the luxuries that they enjoy. Such as maintained roads and bridges, clean and sanitary water to drink, the reassurance that food and over the counter drugs we consume are one hundred percent safe and the list of the luxuries continues. Commonly in the United States taxes are always a rather sensitive topic to be discussed, people have their strong opinions on it. Just about the entire population cringes at the thought of taxes, and while no one ever will enjoy paying taxes, it is something that should be thought of bitter sweet. More than enough countries in the world have no central government, and house barbaric and uncivilized people with no sense of morality. These people live under disgusting, horrid conditions where there is no hope. Everyday women and children are enslaved in human trafficking and people work exhausting hours for almost nothing an hour, and they could be considered the lucky ones. So next time I’m asked if I hate taxes, I’ll say of course not, because in the short run taxes are a small price to pay for the numerous first world luxuries that I enjoy every moment of life.

Taxes are the main source of income for the federal government. In particular the federal income tax is the single largest source of income for the government. Every year hundreds of billions of dollars are generated in revenue for the government and that money goes all back into the people. Money has to be spent in order to sustain order. Citizens need food and water and shelter and electricity and pensions and clothes and protection and so many other things that keep the civilization growing. The problem is that even after all the taxes and income the government makes, they are still spending 1.2 trillion dollars more than they make. This can not be sustained, or else the county will fold back and collapse unto itself. Although raising taxes could generate massive amounts of more money for Washington to catch up, this would strangle the people and the economy. Times are rough as it is for Americans and the workers of the country can not take much more financial burden. If the fiscal cliff is tipped over, everyone’s taxes will raise and essential funding for the people will be cut. If taxes are raised too much then the business owners would have to fire employees and cut pay and stop raises and before anyone could blink the economy would have come to a halt. Preventing growth and many Americans would not be able to pay to pay taxes and survive and the federal government would make no money and the whole country avert to communism. Simply taxes can not be overdone, and above all the reasons for taxes are to improve public standard of living and that must be a priority.

It is not unknown to Americans that Washington spends vast amounts of money more than it collects. For the past year and projected for the upcoming year, the United States is projected to have a 1.2 trillion dollar deficit. That number alone is so large that the average person struggles to grasp their mind around it. Let alone the astronomically large debt the country is in now, nearly 17 trillion dollars. However; it is not as if the money the government is spending is not appropriate. Therein lies the issue, there are not many places that can afford spending cuts in the budget. There has been talk of cutting back on student loans, education and welfare. This is simply a crime. The next generation is going to have to lead the country off on the path to balance and security. This can not be done without education and the skills learned early on that develop Americans into a breathtaking work force when push comes to shove. The fiscal cliff is eliminating the option for the upcoming generations. Every American will have to work and give back to what they receive.

Government spending is not so easy to just find some less important places to cut back on. If the topic is even mentioned at all for federal funding, then it is pretty important for the well being of the people. So the money can not just not be spent or civil order will be lost and chaos will ruin the country. But money has to be cut somewhere; the deficit can not keep up the pace. Either the government works to keep it very near to zero or the whole economy crashes. The top five areas that Washington spends the most on are: Pensions, Health care, Education, Welfare, and Defense. Not one of these seems any less important than the other.

Right off the bat there seems to be almost zero hope when it comes to a solution for the fiscal crisis. A solution will take a very intricate and in depth reworking of the federal government done by professionals, however; those economical professionals in Washington are at a gridlock only making everything that much worse. According to the budget there a few places where spending can be cut. But there is a lot of off the budget spending that must be taken care of. Right now the government can not afford to have so much as a dollar floating around unaccounted for. Next, something must be done about the corporate tax. Big time corporations act in unconstitutional ways. It is there duty and obligation to pay taxes as United States Citizens, and they sit back and watch as they pay nearly nothing and struggling Americans pick up their slack. Every Single loop hole for corporate taxes must be accounted for so that they pay exactly what their rate is too the government.

Regarding to foreign affairs, many countries owe a debt to the United States. It is time that Washington begins to call on that, not in any devastating amount to a country, but if we can muster up 500 billion dollars each year from a collection of countries that owe us debt, a huge burden would be lifted off the budget. In addition to debt, the United States is the world’s best weapons seller. The U.S. should look towards selling weapons to our allies in mass amounts. This not only aids in creating money but it adds growth and stimulation to the economy.

Possibly the most controversial way of easing the deficit is Fracking, it will require American citizens to re assure the meaning of the commonly used phrase, take one for the team. People who live near fracking zones will have to move far away from their current residency, due to a destruction of the water supply around the fracking zones. However, the greater good overweighs the bad here. America could become energy dependent. This could be the single most important goal for the U.S. Energy dependency means that we no longer need Arab oil. Keeping American money and jobs in America. In addition we could sell of the natural gas in mass amounts. Many solutions sound good on paper but the most important thing to keep in mind is that it will not take just one or two generations of workers to fix.


Works Cited
Forbes. Forbes, n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2012. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/moneybuilder/2011/09/30/2012-federal-income-tax-brackets-irs-tax-rates/>.
US government Spending. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2012. <http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/budget_pie_gs.php>.