 |
|
|
|
|
Help Us Tell The Story
We want your insights to help us in our reporting in these areas. Share what you know:
- How are the credit crisis and economy affecting your finances?
- Are you giving or getting a raise this year?
- Are you stretching to afford child care?
- What's your mortgage or home-buying story?
- How have gas prices changed your life?
- Election 2008: Which issues do you care about?
- Sign up for our Public Insight Network
Comments
Comment | Refresh
10/06/2008
Stomp is the act of moving your marker (the solid object) to the current position of your target (the object you move around). Each time you Stomp on top of your opponent's marker you earn one point. The first player to earn 10 points wins the match!
From San Fransico, CA, 10/03/2008
This game is all about building full-featured camps with proper sanitation, parking spots, roads, stores and entertainment places. You get the option of creating any type of campsite because you are the campsite owner who is fully in charge!
From doorway to thee oval office, 10/02/2008
Just get me in the oval office and everything will be just peachy, I can use big words and actually comprehend them. I will re-construct this nation from the ground up cause that’s how I do bisne (business)… And I will get more ass than bill Clinton at a Jenny Craig convention.
From Miami, AK, 10/02/2008
Heyyyy. This game is very confusing and retarded.
10/01/2008
I guess the glaring problem I had with the game is that if you cut taxes, the size of government increases. If you're cutting taxes, then the bureaucracy is being cuts as well (or at the very least government interference is lessened), thus creating smaller government.
From phoniks, KY, 10/01/2008
omg! dano, joe and adam are tho awethome!!!!ithint that great?!?!?!?!
From phoenix, IA, 10/01/2008
i have a gay name and i love dick :)
From phoenix, AZ, 10/01/2008
hey dano what's up?
From Phoenix, KY, 10/01/2008
this game sucks chinko. dano sucks one too. but adam is cool ;)
From phoenix, AZ, 10/01/2008
i hate this game and i suck
From phoenix, AZ, 10/01/2008
i hate this game. joe and adam suck
From Saint Paul, MN, 10/01/2008
Where is the option to burn this whole god awful system to the ground and start over? No options to end the ridiculous war on drugs. There is no way to decriminalize narcotics and tax them heavily like we do with everything else that is bad for us, and turn it into a revenue stream. Holland seems to have done it on a limited basis with great success.
Only 10% of defense can be cut? Why do we still have all these nuclear weapons, and why do we need all those submarines and carrier battle groups? It seems misappropriated when we don't even have enough troops to pacify one country. What's the point? Where is the 50% option?
From MA, 09/30/2008
The application doesn't work correctly if you pay off the national debt completely. In years after it's payed off the interest on debt goes positive again instead of negative as it should.
From Marietta, GA, 09/30/2008
I call bullshit you let me cut military by 10% but that option was not available. for other items. Typical ploy that has YOUR support up for grabs but other items are off limits. The last time we studied Medicare payments (approx $10B) it was found 30% were fraud or unnecessary.
Richard
From Sheboygan, WI, 09/29/2008
A good first stab at the game, but if you really want to make it more interesting you should co-link options, i.e. these are the options you will lose if you play this card.
I think that would do wonders for explaining why we have a hard time balancing the budget and why it seems like all politicians are political whores. The truth is without trading chits, there is no way to get anything done.
From marion, NC, 09/25/2008
THE Great depression will look good! compared to 2009
From lottle rock, ME, 09/22/2008
worst game i think ive ever played in the history of games. Beware!!
From IA, 09/17/2008
why can we raise tobacco tax? but not on alcohol? I used that card only for the increase but would not raise it on tobacco but in turn double it for alcohol. My state just raised cigs $1 per pack but how many are killed driving with a cig in there mouth? I would like to see $1 per drink tax in the game also why not cut the pay of congress? $500.00 per day 365/year is better then CEO'S
From Mountain View, CA, 09/16/2008
I used to run something like this as an Junior Achievement activity in Econ class. All the students had to negotiate with each other and vote on a budget. I added a "secret" card for each student to tell what they represented (voters or special interests) and they got extra credit if they were re-electable by catering to their supporters.
From Frederick, MD, 09/16/2008
Where's the "cut military spending by 70%" card? The "eliminate Dept of Homeland Security" card? The "eliminate DEA" card? With those three, I could have kept the Bush tax cuts, funded all sorts of alternative energy research, provided health care to everyone, and all without eliminating Congress's precious pork. We spend obscene amounts of money on defense that we do not need. And the so-called "War on Terror" and "War on Drugs" are complete shams and huge wastes of resources. 3000 people died in one attack in the last 50 years. That many people worldwide die EVERY DAY from malaria. Where's the War on Malaria? More Americans have died fighting in the Iraq war than on September 11. Is it worth it?
From Bremerton, WA, 09/01/2008
I liked the game, other than the fact that long term effects are not very well represented. For example, if you raise funding for education, in 20 years, those kids you educated will have better jobs and pay more taxes. So, for now you will be spending more money, but in the future you will be bringing in more money in the form of a larger, richer tax-base.
From Rancho Cucamonga, CA, 08/25/2008
Great game! The policy options are good and relevant to what is politically possible today. Of course, you don't include far right wing or left wing policy options, but that o.k. because those are not politically possible in todays political climate anyways. This game, although not perfect, gives citizens a good idea of changes we can make that are significant and possible! Thanks so much!
From WI, 08/21/2008
The game has some built in bias - you make the point that our military budget is 15 times larger than anyone else, but then only allow us to cut it 10% - why not 30% or 50%. Same with healthcare - you offer a government run national scheme, but then say that would increase costs, while all the government run health systems in Europe and Canada have costs that are about half of ours today.
If you really want people to think about the budget, then fix this game and put in some realistic choices.
From kansas city, MO, 08/20/2008
your model seems to neglect any progress by the people.behaviors will alter in an improved enviornment,fueled by business acting in a moral way again.
From Danbury, TX, 08/19/2008
This was fun, but this game assumes that cutting taxes = increased debt. This is not the case. Decreased taxes (particularly on corps will increase productivity and, therefore, increase revenues. Go back to the drawing board.
From Encinitas, CA, 08/19/2008
Lars,
I guess if we lowered taxes to .005% then the government would really be raking in the cash?
Lars, you are only right at certain points on the curve. Your statements are not a rule. You are clearly not an economist, so where did you learn this overly broad statement?
From vista, CA, 08/19/2008
some of your assumptions are erroneous. Cutting taxes do not equate to lower revenues. See the last 40 years of capital gains taxes. See the Reagan tax cuts (marginal rates from 90% to a max of 36%). Reducing taxes does create MORE revenue for the government. Cutting spending (and taxes) for education, which will equate to people having more money to spend on education instead of the government spending it, is pro-education. Just because the government doesn't buy us a car, doesn't mean we don't have a car.
From Portland, OR, 08/11/2008
Budget hero is exactly the kind of thing we need. Education is the only thing that will work. People need to know the hard choices because candidates will continue to avoid them as long as they feel an uneducated public will trash them if they propose real solutions. People need to know that most of our federal spending goes to entitlements like medicare and social security or the military.
Politicians who only talk about cutting some pork or raising taxes only on the rich are just not being honest. But they are giving people what they want to hear, which is easy fixes.
Taxes need to be on the table and people should have a better understanding of what their tax dollars actually buy. Spending cuts also need to be on the table, but will be useless unless defense and entitlements are part of the conversation.
As I wrote today on my news blog, "There is little that any individual can do about the national debt. But we should all be concerned about it because the hard decisions that will have to be made will affect all of us."
Politicians won't address this until voters demand real action, not window dressing solutions that only serve to mask the real magnitude of our dilemma.
You can find the entire story at http://current.pic.tv/2008/08/11/an-inconvenient-debt/
From loganville, GA, 08/11/2008
cd baby presents your famous rockers
million hits...need email list of the top rock stations..cheers peter
www.nationtonationband.com
From NC, 08/09/2008
The 1st problem with the game is that itâ??s based on the FALSE premise that your tax $$$ actually go to provide government services. As the Grace Commission Report to President Reagan clear back in 1984 identified, â??â?¦100 percent of what is collected is absorbed solely by interest on the Federal debt and by Federal Government contributions to transfer payments. In other words, all individual income tax revenues are gone before one nickel is spent on the services which taxpayers expect from their Government.â?? You wonâ??t find this taught in any school & youâ??ll have to do your own research, but what weâ??ve got is the biggest â??Ponziâ?? scheme of all time, which started with the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913. The â??Fedâ?? is neither federal nor a reserve â?? itâ??s not a Govâ??t. agency, never has been & doesnâ??t even claim to be. Say you got in a jam & couldnâ??t make your mortgage payments, but you could scrape together enough $$$ to make the interest payment every month. Youâ??d never â??ownâ?? your home & wouldnâ??t build any â??equityâ?? in it, but you wouldnâ??t get foreclosed on either. Thatâ??s what the Govâ??t. has been doing your whole life & it has to borrow to even make the interest payments. The borrowing has continued to increase dramatically & itâ??s a mathematical impossibility to pay the debt off. One place to have a look @ is the â??National Debt Clockâ??: http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/ The â??moneyâ?? the Govâ??t. (& everyone) borrows is created out of thin air & itâ??s not backed up by anything other than credit. Hereâ??s one way it works â?? say the Fed wants to put more â??cashâ?? into circulation. It places an order with the Bureau of Engraving & Printing (which is a Govâ??t. agency) for Federal Reserve Notes (of debt) we call â??moneyâ?? & pays the printing cost of approximately 3 cents per bill, no matter the denomination (costs the same to print a $10 bill as it does a $100 bill). The Fed then LOANS that $$$ into circulation @ face value plus interest. Hereâ??s another way it works â?? say you want a new credit card with a $10,000 limit, you go to the bank & are approved. The bank treats the new credit account as an â??assetâ?? as if youâ??d deposited $10,000 even though you didnâ??t deposit a dime. Now say I want to buy a used car, need to borrow $8500 & the bank approves me for a loan. Using your credit card â??assetâ?? account as collateral, the bank borrows $8500 from the Fed @ the â??discount rateâ?? which is far lower than the rate Iâ??ll have to pay. Then the seller of the car deposits the $8500 check I gave him & his bank can borrow 85% of that â?? itâ??s called â??fractional reserve bankingâ?? & you can carry it out 11 times. Before you even use your new card the banks are making a profit & more â??moneyâ?? is being created. Itâ??s no different with Govâ??t. â?? the â??moneyâ?? it borrows is created out of thin air too. And when you pay the IRS by check or electronically (they donâ??t accept cash), youâ??re using the same â??moneyâ??. It is the greatest fraud of all time & it will come to an end. Now Congress can un-create the Fed & take back its Constitutional authority to â??coin money and regulate the value thereofâ?? & some in Congress know that. But donâ??t expect it to ever happen because not enough of them know & it would have a huge impact on the whole worldâ??s financial system, since everyone else uses a â??fiat money, fractional reserve bankingâ?? system too. So what will happen is the whole system will implode â?? itâ??s not a matter of if, itâ??s just a matter of when. Read Glen Beckâ??s article, â??The $53 Trillion Asteroidâ?? for example: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/26/beck.deficit/index.html What do you do when someone keeps asking to borrow from you but only pays a portion back & every dollar you get back is worth less than what you loaned? You quit lending, donâ??t you? Thatâ??s the point the U.S. is getting to â?? the Japanese & Chinese â??ownâ?? over ½ the U.S. debt & they donâ??t want it. Neither does anybody else. All the credit â??assetsâ?? are only worth something if youâ??re sure you can collect & all you can collect is more credit â?? even the Fed says the system works only on credit. The long & the short of it is that changing the amount of funds allocated to this or that Govâ??t. agency or project is irrelevant because thereâ??s no real money to begin with. Your tax $$$ go ONLY to interest on the debt & all the tax $$$ combined isnâ??t anywhere near enough so the Govâ??t. has to borrow more. And the system is getting to the point that it canâ??t create any more.
From Fayetnam, NC, 07/30/2008
Minor problem with the game. Limited choices, except to change policies in place from the Bush administration. I can see how people think it's biased. There were plenty of choices instituted before he came into office that put the budget in the mess that it's in.
Stuff I would add, which are only a couple options;
Privatize all government health care programs. Let competition and industry solve the glitches.
Cut funding and benefits to senators and congressmen. Put them on the same terms as the rest of the country. Did you know that the people that decide your future health care and retirement benefits are covered by a completely seperate retirement and health care package -100 percent paid for by your taxes? Also, make a mandatory 2 year term, so they have to compete for their jobs, or get replaced by someone better.
Totally eliminate the current tax system completely and use the "fair tax". If you don't understand what I'm talking about, google it. Downsize the IRS by 90 percent. Eliminate the DEA.
Scrap the education system. Privatize the education system. Refund all taxes used to pay the education system, so that each parent can pick and choose which school they are willing to pay for, and is better for their kids.
Privatize social security, letting people save their own money for retirement, instead of letting the "collective" mooch off of their savings without giving them a chance to ever cash in on it.
Thanks for reading my ideas! There are a lot more Americans that feel the same about these issues.
From Hanover Township, PA, 07/30/2008
Yes, it's easy to balance the budget. You can tax as much as possible and cut spending as much as possible. But that's not the point.
The point is to imagine the policy effects of your choices, not just the budget effects. For example, the FDA is already underfunded and the game cards explain what that means. Of course cutting the FDA more would make your budget look better, but it'd be reckless because of the negative effects.
From Washington, DC, 07/29/2008
I tried do'in da policys of da forma admanestration and found Bill Clinton is better than me in every way!
From Aberdeen, 07/25/2008
I am a Scottish citizen aged 13 and i can control America's Budget better than the Bush White House. My Budget will go bust in 2108. It may be our superior schooling but either way be very ashamed America.
07/24/2008
Like the anonymous user said on 06/28/2008, increasing revenues and decreasing expenses too much makes the debt INCREASE instead of decrease. You guys really need to fix that.
From walles, SC, 07/14/2008
The types of Flash games that are now beginning to hit the Internet, closely emulate the old
Console games of the ‘80’s. There are a lot of Tetris clones and PacMan rip-offs. But, these
are just the experiments that need to be done to test out a new technology. The same thing
happened with the PC: the first PC games were classics such as Solitaire (take a few minutes
at lunch to walk round the office and count the number of people playing solitaire on their
computers).
Where Flash will take game developers is now beginning to materialize. Strangely, the first
place we’ve seen Flash games developed is in the advertising arena. The new medium of online
commercials is Flash. You can see it on sites such as Weather.com, CNN.com and C|NET.com.
All of these sites leverage rich media advertising (a.k.a. Flash). Companies that have been
very successful with interactive Flash advertising include VW, with their VW Beatles’ Flash
Ads.
You can also check out Websites such as Shockwave.com. Shockwave.com was once the last stand
for Director developed games. Now you’ll find that many of the new games are developed with
Flash.
The next step developers can take with Flash today is to make Flash games interactive. This
can be done with current Flash Player -– you can use with Flash Remoting, Flash
Communication Server or XML:Sockets to do this.
thank!
http://www.br3games.com
06/28/2008
I emailed the makers of the game to complain about two bugs over two months ago and one of them remains unfixed so I'm posting this where it'll hopefully get more attention. (The first bug, which they fixed very quickly, involved playing a card and then removing a card before the budget changing animation finished, allowing the removal to be free so you could, for instance, repeal the Bush tax cuts multiple times.) In the game, if you actually manage to eliminate all debt and continue to make a profit, the game calculates it as if you are going back into debt. To see this happening, move the time slider to the end of the timeline and then slowly play every card that increases profits/decreases costs. The IOU tower will shrink down to the bottom and then rise back up to tall than before playing any cards. Also, moving the slider from 2008 on you can again see the IOU tower shrink and then grow. What this means is that the person who is best at the game is the one who can get the debt to zero at exactly 2008, no earlier and no later. This is silly and nonsensical, and frankly lazy programming. I could understand having the size of government increase or some other deterrant correlate with this, but never an increase in debt.
From TN, 06/24/2008
How is it that I, a 16-year-old girl, can push the budget bust to 2070+ without understanding many of the terms? Wow, do we have government problems.
From NC, 06/18/2008
Interesting, but based on a flawed premise. Everone should read "Taxes For Revenue Are Obsolete" to get a look into the mindset of the Federal Reserve, which is neither federal (not a Gov't. agency) nor a reserve: http://home.hiwaay.net/~becraft/RUMLTAXES.html The Federal Reseve Act of 1913 is the greatest fraud ever perpetuated & with it Congress delegated its Constitutional authority to "coin money and regulate the value thereof" to a privately held banking cartel which creats "money" out of thin air. Thomas Jefferson & Patrick Henry warned of what would happen if we ever allowed a central banking system such as the Fed & everything they warned about happened. As it stands now, it is mathematically impossible to pay off the national debt of over $9 trillion & rising by nearly $1.6 billion per day, no matter how many Gov't. programs you cut. But if we'd stayed true to the Constitutional model, we wouldn't be in this mess & Congress can uncreate the Fed any time. And you should check out corporations which own newspapers, radio & TV stations like Jeffersion Pilot Communications & Lincoln Financial Group - you'll find out they're shareholders of the Fed, so it behooves such "news" outlets to keep telling you that your tax dollars actually go to pay for the Gov't. services you think they do. And consider social security - when it started, there were 42 people paying in for each one drawing from, but now that ratio is 3:1. Within about 10 years it'll get to 1:1 then go the other direction as we "baby boomers" age & because the birth rate is down. There is no real S.S. "trust fund" & Congress always spends the "surplus" so even though S.S. has always taken more in than it pays out, that's going to come to a screeching halt. Why are prices so high? Because the value of the dollar is falling like a rock & that's because it's not backed up by anything of real value. It was until March, 1933 when FDR 1st took office & taking direction from the Chairman of the Fed, created the "Bank Holiday of 1933" - do some research on that. Economics 101 - the more there is of something, the less valuable each unit is & the way it works is when the Fed wants to put more "money" into circulation, it places an order with the Bureau of Engraving & Printing (which is a Gov't. agency) & pays the printing cost of about 3 cents per bill (no matter the denomication). Then it LOANS that money into circulation @ face value plus interest. It's not backed up by gold, silver or anything else & it's only worth what you can exchange it for - when the price of a thing goes up that doesn't mean the thing became more valuable, it means what you use to pay for it went down in value. There are of course factors which can effect a commoditiy's value, but take gasoline for example - if you used a $1 silver coin instead of a paper dollar, credit card, etc., you could get about 4 gallons instead of about a quart. Track commodities vs. each other over the years - gold vs. oil, silver vs. wheat, etc. & you'll see a very strong correlation while the dollar tanked - it's worth about a penny & a half compared to what it was before the Fed was created. The U.S.A. went from a Republic to a socialist welfare state before you were born & the only difference in the candidates running for office is how they're re-arrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. Without a change back to the Constitutional model, including the elimination of the Fed & a return to money that's actually backed up by something of real value, our children & grandchildren will be paying for the mistakes we didn't rectify. Like it or not, that's the way it is & Gov't. accounting makes Enron look like child's play. When your foundation is flawed, anything you build on it will automatically be flawed & our "fractional reserve, fiat money" system is a fraud & a scam.
From PA, 06/17/2008
"I'd love to see some of the options discussed above added (implement flat tax, deport illegal immigrants, etc). The other thing that would be interesting is to make guesses about the probable electoral impact of your choices. You can fix the deficit forever with big tax hikes, but wouldn't that cause you to lose reelection (or your boss, if you're the OMB director or something)."
In that case, you might want to check out the independent game "Democracy 2". You can play the demo for a few turns and only play one scenario, or purchase the full game online for 23 bucks.
http://www.democracygame.com/
From Los Angeles, CA, 06/15/2008
Great sim. I'd love to see some of the options discussed above added (implement flat tax, deport illegal immigrants, etc). The other thing that would be interesting is to make guesses about the probable electoral impact of your choices. You can fix the deficit forever with big tax hikes, but wouldn't that cause you to lose reelection (or your boss, if you're the OMB director or something). I'd also like to be able to set more than 3 goals.
But overall, very fun.
From FL, 06/13/2008
I believe government is a necessary function of civilization. Taxes are necessary for the care of those who can't care for themselves, as well as infrastructures we all rely upon. That said, my results were an improvement over the present statistics, and included increase in taxes along with increase in subsidies.
I wish the people,especially the local candidates, we will be voting for this fall would take this test. Then I'd have an clearer idea of their beliefs.
From Lake Forest, CA, 06/12/2008
The game was interesting. I only played once. There are several options left out of the game like limiting the social security & medicare benefits the way that Sweden does to a fixed percentage of revenues. This would then be compensated by teaching financial independence not government dependence and fixing the health insurance problem created during WW2 from price fixing and then a tax deduction only to health benefits from an employer. Health insurance should be like car insurance so that you buy only what you want and can take it with you from job to job with the addition that it can cross state boundaries and maintains the tax deduction. This will eliminate the pre-existing conditions when you leave a job problem and the waste of money for someone spending on your behalf who is not making decisions as well as you can make for your own situation.
Increased tax revenues will come when hard working Americans who with lower tax rates and proper incentives can be more innovative than anyone one else in the world. Higher taxes and incentives to have the government look after you and deliver pork barrel spending are disincentives to innovation and GDP growth and better standards of living and a balanced budget.
From atlanta, GA, 06/12/2008
If you mostly concentrate on the -military budget cuts (most or all except the 10% one) and get rid of the Bush tax cuts, everything else seems to be just fine. Minor tweaks include dumping all pork barrel spending/projects, get rid of No Child Left Behind, and get rid of funding for Amtrak. Isn't it about time projects that fail by themselves should either be abolished or allowed to fail?
With those cuts, the budget looks great without loss of healthcare, SS, or other current programs. The interesting part is you can actually increase funding for alternative energies, conservation, and double the EPA (things that benefit ALL of us, not just some of us).
From portland, OR, 06/12/2008
I would invest $3 trillion or billion in removing the health care burden from American business by covering everyone in the country under one big risk pool.
06/09/2008
Thanks for creating this game; it does a pretty good job of showing a budget consists of priorities more than anything else. Anything to get people more interested, and more into the discussion, is a good thing. Too many people tune any news or commentary related to "budget" out of their heads because they can't/won't take the trouble to understand what is being discussed. I'm amused by the comments about the game's supposed "liberal" bias. If the game had a conservative bias, it wouldn't exist. Conservatives, after all, seem to agree with Dick "Deficits Don't Matter" Cheney that the budget is some sort of trick box that you can put less tax dollars in and get more spending for whatever strikes your fancy out. One can argue we need less tax and less government, but it's hard to argue with someone who denies the very rules of budgeting, as some on the right want to do.
06/07/2008
Um. Many people here is complaning about the simulation is biased towards tax increases.
But, um, I'm disappointed because it basically implied that no matter how high you raise taxes or cut government programs, you're STILL going to have the budget implode. This may be true, but for crying out loud, can't people at least pretend to be hopeful that this problem can be solved?
From Saint Paul, MN, 06/06/2008
Only an NPR lackey could buy into an overly-simplified, obviously biased model like this. BTW, I hear it through the grapevine that the aforementioned dullard pulls $80K+ and still barely squeaks by paycheck-to-paycheck. Yeah, he's qualified to tell us how to manage our federal budget. Also, I find it interesting that the left continually finds it necessary to appeal to the hero complex. This is a sickness people. Are we really expected to associate heroism with video game play? You can’t get a liberal to lift a finger until you somehow convince them that they are saving the planet. Also, when it comes to matters of finance, why is it that the left (Yes, NPR is leftist. Try denying it!) view economic prowess and astute investment as evil characteristics, until those same qualities are displayed (or in this case, virtually displayed) in the form of government office? Of course, that assumes that those qualities would ever gain ascendancy in a system bogged down in needless, bureaucracy, which assumes more than my experience will bear.
From DC, 06/06/2008
If you wrote a post complaining that a cartoonish game played in about ten minutes is not an accurate reflection of the nuanced policy decisions necessary to run a $2.5 trillion government then you are a complete idiot and should probably limit yourself to playing cartoonish games that can be played in about ten minutes.
From Minneapolis, MN, 06/06/2008
I was part of the team that created Budget Hero. It's been great to read all of the spirited discussion and debate that the game has sparked. We had quite a challenge making this very wonk-ish topic engaging and (dare I say?) fun.
I'm getting the sense that some players may not be seeing the reverse side of the policy card.
I wanted to remind people that double-clicking on the cards brings up a great deal of information, including pro and con statements and an explanation of the impact that the policy option might have on people if implemented. Our journalists spent a great deal of time gathering and vetting this information with a wide range of experts.
Happy budgeting!
- Andrew Haeg
06/06/2008
"Ridiculous game. Just tax your way to prosperity. Works every time. That's why they have a balanced budget in Cuba and North Korea. I missed the part of the game where I had to eat tree bark for dinner." I agree with the above quote. What about the impact on the people, huh? I was disappointed that I spent all this time trying to carefully ascertain the social, as well as economic, impact on the people only to be told I've "won" based on only reduced budget spending. Huh.
06/05/2008
Where's the button to eliminate Social Security, Welfare, the IRS, the FED, bring all troops home, etc.
This game is rigged.
From St. Paul, MN, 06/04/2008
I was part of the team at American Public Media that produced Budget Hero, and have enjoyed reading the spirited discussion and debate that the game has sparked. We hoped the game would get people talking about the federal budget, and it appears on that score it's been a success. We've also been monitoring comments to find suggestions for improving the game, ideas for new policy options, or to spot technical problems. Based on the feedback that we've received here and elsewhere, we've added several new policy options to the game: End No Child Left Behind (Schools & Learning) Increase NSF grants by 50 percent (Science & Nature) Cut NSF grants by 50 percent (Science & Nature) Double funds for alternative energy (Science & Nature) Ground the space program (Science & Nature) Stop exploring Earth from space (Science & Nature) Increase NASA funds by 50 percent (Science & Nature) Sorry, but you'll need to play the game again to see how much each of these spends or saves! We'll be adding more options to the game as new policy proposals crop up during the campaign season. If you have any other ideas for cards we should add, or any further suggestions or feedback, please send them to me at budgethero@mpr.org. Srini Radhakrishna
From PE, 06/02/2008
MUHAHAHA! Just as I thought! By completely saturating the rich in taxes, we'll win every time!
Now where's that "Rape and Pillage the Rich" card at?
From TX, 05/31/2008
This goes to show you that liberalism works in economics.
05/31/2008
total liberal based economics. ignorant of actual budget spending.
From dodge city, KS, 05/30/2008
this game is realy easy i am only 14 yaers old and i won the game the first time i played it just takes common sence
From Mt. Airy, MD, 05/30/2008
Folks, it's a game. It bears no more resemblance to reality than monoply does to real estate management.
What is the only interesting thing about it is that the assumptions it does use it are based on GAO analysis, so it's no wonder we can't get anyone (go back as far as you want) in congress or the white house to define a sane and workable strategy for running the government.
That fact is, business experts and true economists don't work in the government, they run actual successful businesses.
From Washington D.C., MD, 05/30/2008
durrrrr
I lost every time
From New Yawk, NY, 05/29/2008
This is in response to a comment about a week ago about why the healthcare building grows faster than all others. It is because of demographics. As people get older they require more healthcare, and we have a lot of old people. Hence, healthcare expenditures will continue to grow at an increasing rate unless drastic changes are made to Medicare.
From PA, 05/29/2008
"The game was totally ignorant of true economics and taxation. When the government reduces taxes, government revenue goes up. Increase taxes, government revenue drops. That didn't seem to be factored in at all."
You're disappointed that the game doesn't defy logic like you wish it would? Where have you been the last 8 years? Or for all of history for that matter?
Anyway, my criticisms would be that it seems the badges get filled the same amount for each positive action regardless of the magnitude of the action. Tossing 1B for endangered species does as much for the environment as cap and trade or throwing 38B at the EPA. Also, enacting policy that goes against the badge doesn't actually do anything. Halve the EPA and it does nothing.
But I suppose it's understandable because it'd be difficult to make a concrete claim about what affects something like the economic stimulus badge. While I'd point out that cutting SS benefits, shifting taxes to the poor, and cutting health care benefits would reduce economic stimulus by a far greater amount than any equal tax on the rich, you'd have to deal with dissenting opinion that thinks this reality is liberally biased.
From st.michaels, ND, 05/28/2008
I HATED IT SO MUCH THAT I COULD JUST KILL IT SO IT WON'T EXIST ANYMORE!!!!
From Orange, CA, 05/28/2008
Badges received:
Health & Wellness, National Security, Economic Stimulus, Green, Safety Net, Efficient Government, Competitive Advantage, Energy Independence.
Debt:
Debt shrinks from 37.7% in 2008 to 22.2% in 2018 and 8.5% in 2028. Surplus in 2028 of $ 129B and interest on debt of $ 129B
Size of Government:
Size of government shrank from 20% in 2008 to 19.1% in 2018 and returned to 20.5% in 2028.
Over-arching Goals:
1. Focus spending within the United States.
2. Focus cuts on long-term benefits and cost containment.
3. Avoid cuts that would dramatically affect US jobs.
4. Leverage existing programs if prudent.
5. Steer society away from sole reliance on dirty fuels.
6. Keep debt under 10% GDP and get all badges without becoming a nanny-state.
Military Goal: Continue to build and improve our military and intelligence. Being the strongest nation in the world is no reason to stop improving. Options selected: Remove troops GRADUALLY, Improve Homeland Security, add 2 new troop divisions, increase DARPA funding.
Schools & Kids Goal: Fight poverty/crime/drug abuse and continue to advance our role in high value added activities through education. Options selected: Educate disadvantaged children, increase funding for College, increase funding for after-school programs, cut school lunch program, increase funding for arts.
Science & Nature Goal: Cut waste. Options Selected: Reform farm subsidies, Double wildlife refuge spending, Expand endangered species program.
Housing & Living Goal: Create a firm floor under the poor to facilitate the educational goals. Options Selected: Increase rent assistance funding, Increase food stamp funding, Increase child care funding, Refinance current subprime borrowers.
Miscellaneous Goal: Cut waste. Options selected: Eliminate "pork barrel", Improve border security, Tighten product oversight.
Infra-Structure Goal: Improve existing methods of transportation. Options Selected: Fund Bus Rapid Transit, Increase funding for Amtrak.
Healthcare Goal: Nationwide coverage, focus on long term cost reductions. Options Selected: Computerize health information, Offer government healthcare plan to all, Simplify and raise medicare fees, Raise medicare eligibility to 67, Increase medicare costs for wealthy individuals.
Social Security Goal: Transition future generations away from reliance on the program so that eventually it can be dismantled. Options selected: Cut benefits by 5% across the board, Raise the eligibility to 67 and index it, Slow social security benefit rise.
Taxes Goal: Stimulate economic growth, raise the poverty floor, strengthen the middle-class, eliminate unnecessary benefits for the well-off. Options selected: Restrict Bush tax cuts to needy, Index AMT to inflation, Cap & Trade, Give workers a tax credit, Add $0.50 to gas tax, Increase SS taxes for wealthy, Make research tax credit permanent, End income taxes for seniors making over $50k, raise Tobacco taxes, Make multinationals pay taxes on income as it's earned, Tax private equity/hedge fund managers, Tax toxic industries for Super Fund cleanups, End breaks for big oil.
Final Notes:
$0.50 Gas tax was necessary to reach energy independence badge, but is compensated for those with little discretionary income with a lower tax liability and a stronger floor under the poor.
Tax the rich more for social security was used over increasing the payroll tax, because it has a built in mechanism for reducing itself as social security funding requirements drop and the program is eventually disabled.
From Grand Forks, ND, 05/28/2008
Ridiculous game. Just tax your way to prosperity. Works every time. That's why they have a balanced budget in Cuba and North Korea. I missed the part of the game where I had to eat tree bark for dinner.
From Pasadena, CA, 05/27/2008
Even the most environmentally conscious economists admit that cutting carbon emissions would COST a lot of money (which is why companies do not do it now, whether or not they should). The calculation that we would gain money from cap and trade is a bit preposterous. It would take tons of money out of the economy. It might be worth it in the long run, but it would definitely hamper economic growth.
From hyd, IN, 05/27/2008
i love this game.............
From panorama, CA, 05/26/2008
I have no idea how to get games to my heavy games profile
05/26/2008
I happened to like the 'Cap greenhouse gas emissions'. Seemed to generate a huge amount of cash. Raise SS age to 67. And raise the gas tax by 50 cents. Now we're getting somewhere.
From Virginia Beach, VA, 05/25/2008
Wow! I won! All I had to do was tax everyone to death, cut defense spending, and spend tons of money on schools and the environment.
From NC, 05/25/2008
David Lee's comments were right on the mark. The game was quite engaging, but the best feature is the sliding scale to visualize future consequences.
Critics who want to know why there isn't an option for removing various government agencies, etc. should become familiar with how budget items come into existence. The game isn't intended to educate us on Congressional process, it is simply a tool designed to give the layman an idea of how complex a task our lawmakers have.
My stats: Badges - National Security, Efficient Government, and Energy Independence. Reduced debt from 37.7% of GDP in 2008 ($8.4 trillion) to 11.6% of GDP in 2018 ($2.6 trillion). Delayed the budget bust from 2033 to 2070 and shrank the size of government from 20 % of GDP in 2008 ($4.4 trillion) to 17.9% of GDP in 2018 ($4 trillion).
Perhaps a bill should be introduced to input the real budget in a working database for the benefit of our lawmakers and make their decisions the first news item of the day :-)
From Harrisburg, PA, 05/23/2008
Card conflicts should name the conflicting card. There should be options to reform/cut back/eliminate the DEA. It would be interesting to be able to cut back on military support by region, say, to Israel. Healthcare should have an option similar to the Canadian system. More options needed to close tax loopholes for rich corporations, such as overseas market and the Estate Tax/Death Tax.
05/23/2008
A good tool to educate us on federal budget challenges and options. I'm adding this to my list of topics that should be required in all high schools.
A similar tool for state budgets would also be useful.
From CA, 05/23/2008
I love how everybody complains about the options. "Wait, you mean you don't have an option to cut foreign aid for Kuwait, which comprises of 0.00003% of our federal budget? How dare you!" (By the way, I just pulled that number out of thin air but hopefully, you get my point.) Or "Why isn't there a Fair Tax option? Sure, it'll create a black market and decrease the taxes that will be collected, undermining the revenue neutral conversion argument but dangit, my chart says it will work!" Has anybody even attempt to make a game like this? I'm sure there's some reasonable decision not to include some possible options and not some heinous plot to tamp down discussion.
Oh, and the complaints about liberal bias. Jeez. If liberals had as much as half of the control of institutions as people think they do, why do they have failed in controlling government for the past decade? Man, sometimes people just have an unjustified underdog complex. Some people won't be able to say something is fair and balanced unless the other side is made out to be discredited, evil, non-recycling puppy kickers. Just enjoy the game for what it is -- an educational tool.
05/23/2008
Alvin Townsend, I suppose you are referring to the hilariously inaccurate Laffer curve? And supply side economics.
From Stockbridge, GA, 05/22/2008
The game was totally ignorant of true economics and taxation. When the government reduces taxes, government revenue goes up. Increase taxes, government revenue drops. That didn't seem to be factored in at all.
From Chicago, IL, 05/22/2008
This is a great tool. I would love to see the presidential candidates all fill it out and share it publicly.
I also wanted to make major cuts in the Dept of Education, but there are no options to cut there. Don't get me wrong - I am a fan of competitiveness and education. But I don't think it needs to be managed at the federal level when there are huge expenditures and administration at the state, local, and individual school levels. I think the negatives of an additional federal layer of oversight outweigh the positives.
From Atlanta, GA, 05/22/2008
It would have been nice to be able close foreign military bases by region such as "Close all military bases in the Middle East" or "Close 50% of military bases in the Middle East"
It would also have been nice to do major infrastructure changes such as "Build Electricity Transmission Lines from the Southwest to other parts of the country" and "Subsidize Electric Car Research" and "Subsidize Solar Plant Construction"
These final two would, over the course of time, reduce dependence on foreign and local oil which in turn would reduce military spending and health care needs.
This game also seems to fail to take into account the absolute economic disaster that we'll have on our hands due to global warming if we fail to reduce carbon emissions to near zero. Food production will be effected (negatively), lower elevation areas will flood, hurricanes will get tougher, etc.
Finally this game seems to just not recognize the intertwining impact of the various parts of the economy including implementation of the unFairTax and the impact that would have on the wealth/poverty gap, the improvement of the economy with a better educated and healthier populace, the reduced cost of health care with a better environment, improvement of health and reduction in infrastructure costs by encouraging bicycling, and etc. This game doesn't allow major policy shifts which affect the long-term budget but do not directly change budgeting policies.
But, overall, the game is an interesting one despite the major omissions.
From Oxford, MS, 05/22/2008
I believe there should be more options on dealing with certain topics.
You should be able to eliminate the departments of education and agriculture, cut all overseas military spending, get the federal government completely out of health care, and end social security.
Those strategies would truly cut spending and you could also lower taxes as a result.
05/22/2008
Great "game" but it annoys me when I get the message saying a card I previously picked conflicts with the one I just chose... WHICH previous card is conflicting? Please name the card!
05/22/2008
It doesn't seem like my badge combo is very common. I picked the ones "best for the people" in my opinion: National Security, Health & Wellness & Competitive Advantage. It was really hard to put them all together, and still pick things that went along with my beliefs on what is important. Like I think there should be more intra-national options to increase National Security. I didn't like having to increase foreign aid. We need to help our own people more than we need to help people outside, at least in my opinion. So, that's where I had the most trouble. I think I'll play again and investigate the other badges a bit more before I pick the same ones. I also didn't like that the budget has a "bust date" at all. I think I understand how they do, but what are we expected to do when it does "bust"??
From Hoboken, NJ, 05/22/2008
Conner, I didn't say they would work, I just would like to see more options in the more free-market vein (just because it seems that many of the more liberal ideas are in the game). And seconding the desire for a "cut all funding to the DEA" card.
05/22/2008
There really should be an option to save a summary in a method other than printing.
05/21/2008
The reason, Nils Langdonson, is that those don't work.
Unless you're already rich then things are great I guess.
05/21/2008
There are some important cards missing, like funding for alternative fuel sources (for energy independent and enviromental purposes). And the healthcare for all card should give you a big boost and the funding should be higher. It's basically the Canadian Healthcare plan, isin't it?
From Toledo, OH, 05/21/2008
Needs a "completely cut funding to DEA" option.
From Los Angeles, CA, 05/21/2008
Wow.
Simply pulling out of Iraq, reversing Bush's tax cuts and making the extraction industries pay their own way (ie, free market) gave me TOO much money. Couldn't find enough items to spend it on.
If the CBO numbers are accurate, it's a sad commentary that doing conservative, free-market, fair things would solve most of our fiscal problems.
05/21/2008
The game fails to include having your party run against you in the primary because you cancelled their pork barrels.
From Cleveland, OH, 05/21/2008
Quote:
--so when i tax big time and increase benefits and spending, i shrink govt...--
No, when you reduce enormous tax breaks and institute modest budget increases you shrink SPENDING, not government. Maybe you've never seen the magnitude of Bush's cuts compared to actual spending. It must be galling to see reality so starkly. (Your confusion of government with spending is rather telling.)
From Asutin, TX, 05/21/2008
I won!
Got all 3 badges- Energy Independence, Efficient Government, and Competitive Advantage. Got the Debt to 9% from 37.7% in 10 years. Delayed the budget bust to 2070+ and reduced the size of govt from 20% to 18.7% in 10 years.
It was pretty easy. Are there any badges (or combinations) that prove to be troublesome?
05/21/2008
If managing the budget was this easy, even a 10 year old could solve our national crisis!
From Hoboken, NJ, 05/21/2008
I must say that this game is a bit too simple. I would love to have more options for how to cut spending and return taxes to the people, without only helping the poor or hurting the wealthy. Why are there no options to get rid of SS or Medicare, or to eliminate bases overseas? Where is the flat tax option, vouchers for everyone, etc.? I know not everyone agrees with these ideas, but they are out there, why not introduce them to the game?
05/21/2008
so when i tax big time and increase benefits and spending, i shrink govt, but when i cut programs across the board i grow it. Man this makes PERFECT SENSE
From Sumner, WA, 05/21/2008
What I noticed is that it is really easy to raise taxes to balance the budget, as well as get the "wealthy" to pay for it. But you don't mention who the "wealthy" are, and you also don't take into consideration what higher taxes vs lower tax rates do to the economy. I could raise taxes to 50% to balance the budget, but if it throws the country into a depression, your overall revenues would probably go down as a result. That never seems to be taken into consideration.
From Worcester, MA, 05/21/2008
As I think the comments reflect, this is insufficiently flexible at either end of the spectrum... the two factors I found most galling were the inability to significantly cut the mililtary and the accounting for health care. Clicking the 'single payer' button ought to have done more than it did-- it should have been compensated by collecting those funds which workers already spend on their insurance.
05/21/2008
I assume the size of the building correlates to the size of the industry...? If so, why does "helathcare" grow faster than anything else no matter what I do? Seems like there is a problem there. Farms should be subsidized... doctors shouldnt... research should...
From Bowling Green, KY, 05/21/2008
I would love to cut a lot more things than are here, starting with the ability to cut taxes completely for people under the 200,000 mark, choices on which continents and countries to pull ALL troops from, and cutting SS taxes immediately making the people who've paid under a certain amount ineligible to receive benefits.
05/21/2008
No Fair Tax card. Noyt all options are on the table, and the ones present have extreme liberal viewpoiints attached to them, so this is a Democratic budget game that fails.
From Rogers, AR, 05/21/2008
The two biggest "buildings" are social security and health care. If there were an option to phase them both out completely (as the people who signed up for them in died off), the entire problem would be fixed.
From Boston, MA, 05/21/2008
I would have liked a "cut the Military by 70% button". Everything!!! would have been paid for, and it would put us in line with the rest of the world.
05/21/2008
Healthcare is just enormous. Where's the 'destroy and rebuild healthcare industry' card?
05/21/2008
Pretty nice game. I found it pretty engaging. Some crits: You may want to slow the 'briefing' down a bit. For an overview of a relatively complex game, it moved pretty fast. I think most of the commenters that said they couldn't get it to start might not have known about the double-click building / play the cards within thing (I could be wrong, tho). Maybe a timer that displays a tip when no activity is registered after the opening animation. I liked the badges, but maybe three positive value badges aren't such a good metric (at least for a political game). I know positive reinforcement can make it fun, but I kept wondering as I was earning my green and efficient gov. badges (that was a challenging mix) if I would have been running a 'competitive advantage' badge into the negatives. It would have been interesting to know. As far as the conservative/liberal biases: They may be there, but I couldn't see it leaning too obviously one way or another. It seemed like a pretty good mix of policies to me. It couldn't have been easy to distill the pros and cons for all of those into 1-2 sentences, either. Congrats to the writers/researchers. More pointedly, I was really fascinated (and often surprised) by the CBO numbers for some of the most glamorous cards (like cutting pork barrel spending - so low!) compared to something like the carbon caps. Really interesting stuff. I learned things. Damn you!
05/20/2008
Interesting that someone else thought it was too liberal. I found some of the pro and con explanations to be too conservative. And you read the source of information blurbs to see "Project for the New American Century?!?!" Are you kidding me? These are the neo-cons goofballs who gave us the Iraq war, the PATRIOT act, torture, etc. Hardly reputable souls.
From Ramona, CA, 05/20/2008
I'm having the same trouble as Jason. I pick the badges, hit start, hear the thump noise, and nothing. Unless this is supposed to be some commentary on how are choices are meaningless, I'd like to actually play the game. :D
From FL, 05/20/2008
"Stop funding healthcare for people who are not in this country legally." Believe it or not, it wouldn't be a cost savings at all, because it would result in people getting no treatment for medical problems until they're in an emergency situation. You know, having to be rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. And once you're in a critical situation, the hospital can't screw around finding out if you have immigration documentation or not, they have to do everything they can to save your life - even if that means using expensive equipment and procedures (which it often does). So paradoxically, denying care to people until the last minute actually ends up /costing/ the healthcare infrastructure more money overall. We see the same problem with homeless people, who can't afford preventative care, and so only get medical attention when their life is in serious danger - which of course happens frequently because they can't get regular treatment for their medical problems. It does seem like a good idea in principle to cut off help to people we feel don't deserve it, but unless we radically change the way hospitals operate (i.e. they won't save your life unless you can show proper documentation), there's no better option.
05/20/2008
A great idea for a game, unfortunately, the options are extremely limited (and, it's clear that whoever made this had a pretty strong liberal bias--and I'm pretty liberal!)
To be able to game out a variety of scenarios, it should have options that include privatizing Medicare, drastically increasing the SS retirement age (to 75 or so), and the like. I'd like a bunch of options so I can evaluate their impact.
It is extremely weird that there are essentially no ways listed to reduce medicare or medicaid spending.
Also, for those of us who believe in responsible spending, the debt as a % of GDP should go all the way from surplus to the positive range. And should be colored red for anything about abt 20%...
Thanks
From East Wenatchee, WA, 05/20/2008
Wow! I am loving this. Can't wait to show it to my students.
From MO, 05/20/2008
seems like a cool game but couldnt get it to start? picked badges hit start nothing happens...
From Ashton, ID, 05/14/2008
Enjoyed the comments above. I too was sad I couldn't be more creative on our options. Just curious along with health care for illegals, what is their costs to our prison system? education? I really believe in legal immigration. WIC is a decent program and has shown it's rewards financially. Perhaps food stamps could be tailored in a similar fashion to meet needs versus wants.
From OR, 05/14/2008
I learned something about federal sending from the Budget Hero game, thank you. It is creative, educational and fun. A static model like this cannot foresee all options though. There seems to be no cost saving options for health care or social security. The game says we are destined to fail. I believe Americans are ingenious and industrious people, and we will find a way when we really need to. Here is an idea, "Stop funding healthcare for people who are not in this country legally." Can you come up with a cost savings for that one?
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Marketplace reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.