Washington Post syndicated columnist Ruth Marcus has a brilliant proposal for the 2012 election: require every candidate to answer the following question:
The new congressional super-committee is supposed to produce another $1.2 to $1.5 trillion in savings over the next decade.
Please identify where in the budget you would find these savings, identifying specific program cuts and, if applicable, tax changes. You may exceed the target but may not come up with less.
…
For purposes of scoring this exam, Congressional Budget Office baselines will be used. You may use any of the alternate baselines employed by the CBO, depending on whether you choose to let the Bush tax cuts expire on schedule and would like to receive budgetary credit for the same.
Answers given in general platitudes — “winning the future” and “cut, cap and balance” — without providing specifics will be marked down. Significant points will also be taken off for answers that express the “solution” in terms of percentage cuts or caps, or that envision general reductions — e.g. “Medicare savings” — without identifying how these will be achieved.
Any paper that mentions the phrase “waste, fraud and abuse” or uses any of those words individually will automatically receive zero credit.
Your assignment is to be submitted by Nov. 23, 2011. You may begin now.
– http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_18617790, among many locations
I think this is a brilliant idea, not the reason for which is how deeply these “solutions” will affect the economy in general, and IT jobs in particular. I’m in the business of secure, intact, valid information; I’d like some before I cast a vote.