July 20th, 2011, By Dana Haugh
A little less than two weeks to go and Congress has yet to agree on a plan that will save the United States from defaulting on their outstanding loans. The borrowing limit was surpassed nearly three months ago and yet no notable, let alone aggressive, progress has been made to shrink the country’s outstanding deficit and come up with a plan to rectify all that has gone awry in the nation’s financial situation. Republicans and Democrats alike have shot down plan after proposed plan, and if there’s been on area the opposing parties have agreed on, it’s that no proposition thus far has deemed itself capable of reversing the nation’s money crisis.
This past Tuesday, Obama and six other Republican and Democratic senators revealed a proposal, now being referred to as the “Gang of Six” plan, which aims to reduce debt by $3.7 trillion over the course of the next decade. Spending cuts would make up about 74% of the plan, while 26% would come from new taxes; and if passed, the plan would lower personal and corporate tax rates while eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax. Estimated tax cuts would be around $1.5 trillion over the course of 10 years and the Social Security program would be made solvent in 75 years.
It’s unlikely the plan will pass through Congress unscathed, but so far it has been met with interest from both parties. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, one of the most “combative conservatives,” even met the plan with curiosity. “The president warned that negotiators are in the ’11th hour’ for getting a deal and markets could begin to react negatively if partisan wrangling goes down the wire,” says that Wall Street Journal. Scare tactics aside, Obama is right—if an agreement isn’t reached in the coming days, the entire country will be in for a wake up call.
All information gathered from the Wall Street Journal