Sure there is regardless what you see, read or hear…..the plan that all want to ignore is the Simpson-Bowles……Repubs do not like it because they will have to go against Nordquist…..Dems do not like it because they would have to change a few of the entitlement positions….I do not like it because I think it does not go far enough in areas……but you decide…….read it here…..

The 6 Tenets of “The Plan”

1.      Discretionary Spending Cuts

• Eliminate all Congressional earmarks
• Reduce Congressional and White House budgets by 15% (including travel budget)
• Freeze Congressional pay until 2014
• Freeze federal workers’ wages through 2014
  • Also, eliminate 200,000 federal jobs by 2020 (10%)
  • Also, eliminate 250,000 federal non-defense contractor jobs by 2015
• Hold discretionary spending in 2012 to 2011 levels; by 2013, reduce descretionary spending levels to those of 2008. After 2013, increase the spending by half the rate of inflation.
• Both  security and non-security funding cut in equal percentages
• Increase transportational revenues until the transportaion trust fund is fulled-funded (includes a gas tax-hike starting at $0.15)
• Create a committee to cut $11 billion of unnecessary programs by 2015
• Cut $1 billion of “low-priority” Army Corps of Engineers programs by 2015
• Cut oversea’s budget by 10%, cut contributions to the U.N. by 10%, and cut foreign aid budget by 10% by 2015
• Cut almost $1 billion in fossil fuel research funds
• In order to spend above the caps: (1) Affirmative vote from House of Reps (2) 60-vote point of order in the Senate
• President proposes annual limits to war spending
• Establish a disaster fund based on the average amount spent in the past decade (rolls-over annually)
• Create a committee to cut duplicative, unnecessary, or non-priority programs from spending

2.      Tax Reform

• “The Zero Plan”
• There will only be 3 personal tax brackets
  • There will only be 1 corporate rate
  • All deductions, loopholes, and credits will be eliminated
    • This includes EITC and mortgage interest deductions
  • The 3 tax rates will be 8%, 14%, and 23%
• The 2nd Plan
  • Personal deductions would increase to $15,000
  • The 3 tax rates will be 15%, 25%, and 35%
  • Repeal or extensively limit tax deductions
    • This includes state, local, and mortgage interest deductions
• The 3rd Plan
  • Force Congress to reform taxes by raising taxes each year that they fail to act
• Implications of Their Suggested Changes
  • The above 3 plans allow Congress to only collect taxes on income made in the US
  • It redudes or eliminates taxes on revenues companies earn abroad and US expatriates
• The report also suggests raising the gas tax by $0.15/gallon

3.      Healthcare Cost Reduction & Reform

• More lower-income citizens would be put into Medicaid-managed care
• Freeze Medicare payments through 2013, cut them in 2014, and create a better physician payment formula
• Medicaid co-pay amount would increase
• Reform or repeal the Community Living Assistancer Services and Supports program – it is unsustainable
• Begin previously-planned cuts to Medicare Advantage and home health care programs
• Use pilot programs more often
• Create savings by reducing administrative costs, excess payments, and fraud, reforming cost sharing, medical malpractice, and Medigap coverage, and eliminating state gaming on the program
• Create a spending cap for Medicaid/Medicare growth
• If the health care system overspends in 5 years, Congress and the President may be forced to increase premiums or co-pays
• If the health care system overspends in 5 years, Congress and the President may be forced to raise the Medicare eligibility age
• Create a long-term budget for total health care spending, limit growth to GDP growth plus 1%

4.      Mandatory Spending Cuts

• Government expenditures and revenue stop at 21% of GDP
• Reduce argicultural subsidies
• Eliminate federally subsidized student loans in which the government makes interest payments while the student is in school
• Reform military and civil service health and retirement savings programs
• Charge market rates for federal electricity-generation
• Require the TVA to charge rates to cover its costs
• Give Postal Service more rule over their restructuring
• Increase user fees with inflation

5.      Social Security Reform

• Retirement age will increase based on longevity statistics
  • In 2075, estimated retirement age will be 69
• Raise the Contribution ceiling:
  • Currently, people only pay Social Security taxes on the first $100,000 that they make – This accounts for only about 85% of taxable wages
  • Let’s take the ceiling up to 90% by 2050
• Ensure the minimum benefit is 25% higher than the poverty line
• Use “chained CPI” instead of standard CPI to measure Social Security cost of living adjustments
• Increase benefits to individuals older than 85
• Achieve a net-reduction in benefit payments by (1) increasing benefits for low-income beneficiaries and (2) decrease benefits for higher-income people

6.      Process Reform

• Enforce deficit reduction targets
• Adopt triggers for extended unemployment benefits based on the unemployment threshold
• Only allow spending cap adjustments for review of IRS enforcement, anti-fraud efforts in health and labor programs, and disability claims

Read the bill here.  If you think there is more that could be done, then read the whole thing and draw an informed conclusion…..