Austerity — the 1%’s Global Battle Cry

[napoleon_in_rags]

1. Yeah, and contrast the shape of the austerity with these methods for decreasing debt:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/30/fiscal-cliff-10-ways-obama-congress-_n_2215099.html

1. Prison Reform.

The U.S. incarcerates its citizens at a rate roughly five times higher than the global average. We have about 5 percent of the world's population, but 25 percent of its prisoners, according to The Economist,. This status quo costs our local, state and federal governments a combined $68 billion a year -- all of which becomes a federal problem during recessions, when states look to Washington for fiscal relief. Over the standard 10-year budget window used in Congress, that's a $680 billion hit to the deficit.

(snip)

2. End the Drug War.

The federal government spends more than $15 billion a year investigating and prosecuting the War on Drugs. That's $150 billion in Washington budget-speak, and it doesn't include the far higher costs of incarcerating millions of people for doing drugs. This money isn't getting the government the results it wants. As drug war budgets balloon, drug use escalates.

(snip)

4. Offshore Tax Havens.

The U.S. Treasury Department estimates that it loses about $100 billion a year in revenue due to offshore tax haven abuses. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) has been pushing legislation for years to rein in this absurd tax maneuvering, but corporate lobbying on Capitol Hill has prevented the bill from becoming law.

(more at link above)