1. Reflect on the ideas shared by your peer and provide a reply that offers helpful guidance or supportive feedback .

2. Share your own experiences about government expenditures (discretionary or mandatory) and taxes affect you and your own neighborhoods.

As a policy maker determined to control the federal budget, I would reduce spending on:

• Social Security - if Congress raises the minimum retirement age, the federal government could strengthen the finances of Social Security.
• Medicare - if Congress increases the premiums for Medicare, the federal government could lower the barrier to entry for potential competition in addition to reducing costs.
• Military - if Congress cut down on defense bureaucracy spending, the federal government could perhaps creating millions of jobs by investing that money into sectors such as green energy, thereby generating a new potential source of tax revenue

I would change the tax policy not by directly increasing tax rates, but by curbing tax evasion, adding new luxury taxes, and increasing revenue stream by providing more incentives for businesses to create more jobs and economic activity. In order to increase tax revenue, I would rather seek a balance between tax revenues and the tax rate as per the Laffer Curve. The goal is to receive more revenue than is potentially lost in the long run without perturbing normal economic behavior. If the tax rate is too high, individuals may become discouraged to seek employment since the government would be taking a significant cut of their income. The burden of tax ultimately depends on the type of product and how elastic the supply and demand are for that product. Tobacco, for instance, is inelastic in demand due to the addictive nature of the substance; therefore, the burden of tax is primarily on the consumer who would bear the increased costs.

In regards to the impact of COVID-19 on the budget deficit and national debt, I believe that we should be slightly concerned. The excess deficit spending in 2020 was a necessary initiative on the part of the government in order to jumpstart the economy after the coronavirus impelled many businesses to shut down and individuals to lose their jobs. The higher the deficit, however, the fewer funds the government possesses at its disposal to provide for public programs such as Medicare.