Event

Federal Debt Debate

With all the headline news and political changes in response to European debt related problems, deficits and talk of austerity measures, it may seem like the U.S. debt issue has gone away. Unfortunately, it only continues to grow with each passing month.

At mid-year 2012, total Federal debt is just shy of $15.8 trillion, and we are on track for another $1+ trillion of deficit spending for the current fiscal year.

We are in a Presidential election year, and any new legislation regarding budget reform is not expected to be passed anytime before late this year. And then there is the matter of the debt ceiling, the economy itself, and the dual and conflicting challenges of growing the economy and attempting to create a plan to gain a better balance over Federal tax revenues and spending.

There is also talk about the "fiscal cliff" related to the planned expiration of the Bush tax cuts which have already been extended beyond their original 2010 deadline. The debate is over whether or not these effective tax increases would create such a headwind on the economy as to put us back into a recession next year. Recessions lead to lower tax revenues, higher expenditures, and result in more stress on deficit spending. Although it may feel like it, our budget issues are not new for the country, and there is a long and interesting history related to how we got to where we are today.

Join this course where we will provide brief clarification on some of the fundamentals, then provide a history of how we got so deeply in debt, review where tax revenues comes from, what we spend our tax dollars on, various budget proposals, and explore and quantify some specific "what ifs" to assess the possible effects of raising taxes and/or reducing spending in an attempt to rein in deficit spending.

This course will be held on Wednesday, July 25 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m, and Saturday July 28 from 10 a.m. to noon, at the Ludwick Community Center Assembly Room, 864 Santa Rosa St., San Luis Obispo