Open Thread: How Would You Balance the Budget?

July 19th, 2011 10:38 AM

With growing frustration towards President Obama and certain members of congress for their lackadaisical approach in balancing the budget and reducing spending, many people are beginning to think they could do a better job than our country's leaders. Using data collected by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, American Public Media and the Woodrow Wilson Center put together an interactive game to do just that, giving control of the economy to the players using actual proposed budget plans.

Check out the game after the break, and let us know what you think of it in the comments.

The game begins by allowing players to choose certain values to guide their choices, including "Efficient Government," "Tea Party," and "National Security." Next, players can peruse through various sectors of the government and decide which programs to cut and which ones to fund.

One of the first players to test his skills on the game was Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee. Even making a number of budget cuts, though, the game eventually leads to the conclusion that major structural changes to entitlement programs are needed if the government is to get out of debt.

What do you think of the interactive presentation of fixing the national debt? Were you able to balance the budget?