Gbagbo causes FUND1E C00T1ES!!!!!

You know you're in trouble when two of your biggest American admirers are complete idiots. Idiots with tons of money and political pull, yes, but idiots just the same.

Even a Livejournal poster of dubious character could do it! Honest!

Ed Brayton published a November 2010 piece concerning a New York Times article that allowed you to try to balance the budget  by 2015 (or 2030), and although I'm sure that practically everyone would balk at some of the policy choices, I was actually able to pull off the 2030 figure myself. 

Here's a more direct link to the Times piece and the policy choices I made that got me to where I ended up. 

 Eliminate earmarks;

 Eliminate Farm Subsidies;

 Other cuts to the Federal government;

Reduce nuclear arsenal and space spending;

Reduce military to pre-Iraq war size and further reduce troops in Asia and Europe;

Cancel or delay weapons programs;

Reduce the number of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to 30,000 by 2013;

Reduce social security benefits for those with high incomes;

Use an alternative measure for inflation;

Return the estate tax to Clinton-era levels;

Return investment tax rates to Clinton-era levels;

Allow expiration of Bush-era tax cuts for income above $250K a year;

Payroll tax; subject some incomes above $106,000 to tax;

Millionaire's tax on income above $1 million;

Eliminate tax loopholes, but keep taxes slightly higher;

Carbon tax;

Bank tax.

Now you try it, but keep in mind Ed's statement that "a lot of the policies (he) chose would be politically difficult, perhaps even impossible. But it's not difficult to do theoretically." True, but it's probably next to impossible to pull off in most domestic political climates even if we're not talking about 2011. .