Play the game found at the following link. Your job is to balance the budget and save the country from disaster. You need to become a BUDGET HERO! Once you have tried Budget Hero, you will be given your "score card" or your results of your actions. Post a comment describing some of your actions eg. what spending did you cut or what taxes did you affect, and then describe the effect these actions had on the budget.
This is a required assignment of all students in government and needs to be completed by December 9th.
Mr. Thompson
I reduced the debt from 75.5% of GDP in 2012 ($16.5 Trillion) to 34.7% of GDP in 2021 ($7.5 Trillion).
ReplyDeleteI delayed the budget bust from 2031 to 2043.
I shrank the size of the gov. from 25.9% of GDP in 2012 ($5.6 Trillion) to 19.9% of GDP in 2012 ($4.3 Trillion). I won the Tea Party Medal and the Green Medal.
-Caleb F.
For the actions i did. I cut defense,redid medicare, raise taxes for the rich,tax for carbon dioxide emissions,cut out education,raise the social security age, cut almost all misc. items. Eliminated federal housing.
ReplyDelete-Caleb F.
I froze military spending, I drilled for oil in the Arctic, I reduced federal aid for highways, and I raised Medicare eligibility to 67.
ReplyDeleteThese actions resulted in delaying the budget bust from 2031 to 2032, shrinking the size of government from 25.0% of GDP in 2012 to 24.4% of GDP in 2021, and reducing the debt from 75.5% of GDP in 2012 to 66.2% of GDP in 2021. I didn't earn any badges, but the energy independent badge was highlighted a little.
I cut down the spending of the military, social securities, and health care. For the taxes, I put in all the taxes that will give money.
ReplyDeleteI was able to reduce the debt from 75.5% to 48%, and able to delay the budget bust from 2031 to 2039, but shrink the government size from 25.9% to 22.4%.
I was able to achieve the super hero badge, and the economics stimulus is kind of highlighted.
Kong T
I froze military spending, i cut down foreign aid. I raised 25 cents to the gas tax.I raised the social security age.I revamped medicare and medicaid.
ReplyDeleteI reduced the debt from 75.5% to 56.5%. I delayed the budget bust from 2031 to 2036. I shrank the size of government from 25.9% to 22.8%.
I almost win the green medal, and half of the super hero medal
Shiyi L
I froze military spending, revamped medicare and medicaid, funded research on clean energy, increased the EPA budget by 50%, increased funding for amtrack, rapidly cut troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, increased homeland security spending and funded university defense projects. The effect of my actions was that the debt was reduced from 75.5%($16.5 Trillion) to 58.5% ($12.7 Trillion). I delayed the budget bust from 2031 to 2034 and I also shrank the size of gov't from 25.9% to 23.0%. I earned my national security badge and half of my green badge.
ReplyDeleteHannah Eckerman
I chose the Competitive Advangtage Badge, the National Security badge, and the Efficient Government badge. I want my country to be the top nation in the world, and I dont really care about debts just yet. Start off, I raise the social security age, then slow the social security benefits, raised the price of medicine, and required drug companies to give deeper Medicare. I then raised taxes and raised all military fundings, then I also raised education and science, by doing this, I have acheived the national defense and competitive advangtage badges. The only problem at the end is that my debt rises up to 20 trilions and my country is in alot of debt.
ReplyDeleteDanh Vo
The three badges I earned were the Economic Stimulus Badge, the Competitive Advantage Badge, and the Energy Independence Badge. Policies I added to the Defense & Diplomacy were the "Rapidly Cut Troop Numbers" and "Cancel Stealth Fighters". In doing so, I was able to cut about $1.2 billion dollars from our budget. Under the School & Kids policies, I added the card "Make College More Affordable," this added $50 billion to our spending, but it was able to increase the Competitive and Advantage Badge. By adding the "Drill for Oil in the Arctic" card, under Science & Nature, I was able to both decrease the debt and increase my Energy Independence Badge. To increase the Economic Stimulus Badge, I was able to use the "Double FDA Funding" card; however it increased the debt by $40 billion. After a few more adjustments ,my overall budget impact resulted in reducing the debt from $16.5 trillion to $14.5 trillion (75.5% to 66.5%). I delayed the budget bust from 2031 to 2033. However, I shrank the size of the government from $5.6 trillion GDP to $5.3 trillion (25.9% to 24.4%).
ReplyDeleteKatie Lee
The two badges that I choose was the Tea Party Badge and the economic Stimulus badge. The Tea Party I got a little bit of it.I played the card in education to spend more money on the disabled children and it made the debt go down. I also played the card in National security to cut military spending by 10 percent and the debt went down.I reduced the debt from 75.5% of GDP in 2012($16.5 trillion)to 67.8% of GDP in 2021($14.8trillion). I also shrank the size of government from 25.9% of GDP in 2012($5.6trillion) to 24.5% of GDP in 2021($5.3trillion).
ReplyDeleteMonique Ridley
My goals were to achieve the National Security, Competitive Advantage, and Tea Party badges. However, as I played the game, I realized it was more difficult than I expected to cut spending and still achieve my goals (which included actually spending more money for education, military, and the like). Eventually I played about 25 cards (It took that many cards for me to get a surplus in the budget). My two biggest cards I played were to simplify the tax code and to overhaul medicare and health care.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, I achieved the badges of National Security and Competitive Advantage. I was only able to get my Tea Party badge a little less than halfway full.
Besides the badges, I pushed the budget bust from 2031 go 2037 (all that cutting and I only delayed it 6 years?), reduced debt from 75.5% of GDP in 2012 to 60.2% in 2021, and shrank the size of the government from 25.9% of GDP in 2012 to 23.6% in 2021.
-Beth Daede
The two badges that i choose were National Security and Super hero.I played 13 cards. I got a budget hero in National Security. I tried raising taxes, which didn't really do that much to the budget. The thing that actually changed mine was to freeze military spending. The country was paying way to much for that. I also revamp medicare and medicaid. I reduced the debt from 75.5% to 55.1%. I delayed the budget bust from 2031 to 2040. I shrank the siz of the government from 25.9% to 22.7%
ReplyDelete-Dami Adebayo
The badges I chose were national security, competitive advantage, and efficient government and I earned all of them. I played a total of 42 cards and I delayed the budget bust until 2039. I reduced the debt to 51.4% of GDP. I shrank the government from 25.9% to 22.4% of GPD. I shrank the debt from $16.5 trillion to $11.2 trillion. I was a great president.
ReplyDelete-Joey Jensen
The goals I set for myself at the beginning was to gain a competitive advantage, improve national security, and gain energy independence. I gained energy independence and gained the national security badge as well, but did not get the competitive advantage badge. I found it hard to decide what to cut in order to improve in only two areas! I shrank the size of government from 25.9% GDP in 2012 to 24.4% of GDP in 2021. I reduced the debt from 75.5% GDP in 2012 to 63.9% GDP in 2021. This is an improvement of $2.6 trillion. What's most frustrating, is this only pushed back the budget bust to 2037-- that's only 6 years! I did this by:
ReplyDelete--Raising the social security age and slowing benefits
--Reforming and simplifying the tax code, adding 25 cents to the gas tax (hopefully encouraging greener transportation), and phasing out mortgage interest deduction
--Increasing aviation security fees and cutting subsidies for intercity rail, and
--Overhauling Medicare and healthcare in general.
-Josh Rackham
Debt is no match for me !, i decreased the debt in GDP from 75.5% down to 61.2 % , and pushed the budjet bust back to 2037. My most resourceful cards in accomplishing this were " raoidly cut military troops in iraq and Afghanistan" , "Cut military spending by 10%", "Revamp medicare and mediciad". My two badges were the competitve badge, and the economic recovery badge. Both of which were halfway filled. My idea was to cut the amount of debt and money we out into medicare and medicaid and the army, and instead invest in the future by using education and advanced directives to discover oil in the artic and hopefully push back our debt and decrease it. - Kelly F
ReplyDeleteI chose the green, national security, and energy independence badges. To achieve these badges, I increased homeland security, increased diplomacy and foreign aid, cleaned up nuclear waste sites, funded research on clean energy, increased EPA budget, and protected endangered species. I also cut discretionary spending, revamped medicare/medicaid, and reformed the tax code. After all of this, I reduced the debt from 75.5% of GDP to 57.8%. I pushed the budget bust from 2031 to 2037 and shrank the government from 25.9% to 23.2%. I earned my national security badge, and parts of my green and energy badges.
ReplyDeleteKaty Eckerman
I reduced the national debt to $15.3 Trillion by 2021. I kept the budget from going bust until 2034.I also tried to earn these badges: Energy Independence, Green, Competitive Advantage. I succeeded in getting 2 of 3. Green and Indepedndence. My top cards that I played were Reform and simplify the tax code, Add 25 cents to the gas tax, Phase out mortgage interest deduction, Cap and cut discretionary spending, Eliminate the AMT. I also did a lot on taking out any toxicons and made sure that we would go all Green with people not really using cars as much because I taxed it..
ReplyDeleteKayla Nelson
The badges that I choose are National Security, Efficient Government, and Energy Independence. All of the things I removed or added are these are the effects it had on our countries budget. No more trade assistance and it would have a ten year impact and it would subtract 9 billion from our budget. The second thing I cut was the federal travel budget in half and it would also have a ten year impact as well with 73 billion dollar being removed from our budget. I also raised the Medicare eligibility to 67 witch cut 173 billion dollar out for then years. I increased the Social security age from 66 to 67 and cut 152 billion out for a 10 year time frame. I also Slowed down the increase of Social Security benefits witch removed 137 billion dollars for 10 years. I added 25 cents the gas tax witch added 291 billion dollars to our budget for 10 years. I also Reformed and simplified the tax code and that added 995 billion dollars to our spending for 10 years. I ended big breaks for big oil companies witch added 21 billion dollars to our spending for 10 years. I also got the budget to end up being a bust after 2035, and it started out with the year 2031. I also did not reach any of my badges that I choose.
ReplyDeleteTim Hanenberger
My badges chosen were Green and Competitive Advantage. I succeeded in getting both badges. Key reasons for getting the Green badge was by adding a 25 cent tax on gas and by increasing the funding for Amtrak. This will lead to people using public transportation and to encourage a greener lifestyle. For the Competitive Advantage badge I increased funding to better educate children in schools and by funding universities and space exploration. Most of the money came from by simply cutting gov't spending by 10% and by reducing the amount of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and also by cutting discretionary spending. Overall I delayed the budget from 2031 to 2034 and I reduced the debt from 75.5% of GDP to 62.8%. I also reduced the size of the gov't from 25.9% to 23.8%.
ReplyDeleteAaron Torres
The two badges I chose that I wanted to earn were the Green and the National Security. When trying to earn my two badges, I ended up raising the debt from 75.5% of GDP in 2012 to 77.5% of GDP IN 2021. I did end up getting my two badges, but I did raise the debt quite a bit. Some cards that I used to earn my badges were fund on research on clean energy, end ethonal subsidides and increase EPA budget by 50% to earn my Green badge. And to earn my National Security badge I increased homeland security spending and clean up defense nuclear waste sites to earn this badge. I think if i didnt earn my whole badges, the debt wouldnt get to be so high as I ended up getting it to be.
ReplyDelete- Maranda Brennan
I selected the national security, green, and energy independence for my three badges I tried to attain. In order to get these badges, I increased diplomacy and foreign aid, increased homeland security, cleaned up nuclear waste sites, funded research on clean energy, protected endangered species, and increased EPA budget. Along with those I also cut discretionary spending a bit, upgraded medicare/medicaid, and redid the tax code. It turned out after doing all this that I reduced the debt from 75.5% of GDP to 56.6%. I made the budget bust last a bit longer: from 2031 to 2034 and reduced the government from 25.9% to 23.7%. I earned my complete national security badge, but I only got parts of my energy and green badges.
ReplyDeleteKeaton Riley
I chose the green, national security and energy independence and I achieved all 3 of my badges. I reduced the debt from 75.5% of GDP in 2012 to 48.1% of GDP in 2021. I delayed the budget bust from 2031 to 2038. I also shrank the government from 25.9% of GDP in 2012 to 22.2% of GDP in 2021. To help achieve that I cut troop numbers in Iraq and Afghanistan, reform and simplified the tax code, cut discretionary spending by 10 percent, cap and cut discretionary spending and revamp Medicare and Medicaid.
ReplyDelete- Christina Block
i chose green and national security and i achieved my badges. i only reduced two percent from 75.5% to 73.4% in 2021. the budget will still fall in 2031. i downsized to 25.5% in 11 years. to achieve my national security badge i ended ethanol subsidies and cleaned up defense nuclear waste sites. i also added a public plan to Obama health reform.
ReplyDelete-McKenzie Eggert
I had chose the green,cometitive advantage,and eccicient government i got all of my badges. i reduced the debt from 75.5% of GDP in 2012 (16.5 trillion) to 47.4% GDP in 2021(10.3 trillion)I delayed the bust pushing from 2031 to 2038 i also shrank the government from 29.5% to 22.4% and saved 1.1 trillion
ReplyDeleteTim Johnson
i chose green and energy dependence and i did not get either of my badges but i did reduce the debt from 75.5% of GDP in 2012(16.5 trillion) to 59.9% of GDP iin 2021 (13.0 Trillion). I also delayed the budget bust from 2031 to 2035. some of the cards i played were to reform and simplify the tax code, cut discretionary spending by 10%, froze military spending and gave funds to research on clean energy.
ReplyDeleteTyler Foegen
I chose the green, president, and the boston tea party badge. I reduced the debt from 75.5% of GDP in 2012 to 50.1%. I delayed the budget bust from to 2037 to 2031. I did this by cutting military spending and increasing taxes on companies that produce toxic materials. I shrank the government from 25.9& to 22.8%, but I didn't earn any badges.
ReplyDelete-Gisela L
I choose Economic stimlus, national security, and efficent government. I reduced the health by 50, social society by 150 and added 190 to schools.I think i did something wrong because as a result of 2012 it stayed nutral and by 2031 the government badget fails. The GDP was 16.5 trillion in 2021. I was not very satisfied with my result and I would make a horrible governor .
ReplyDelete~Yasmin Muse
I reduced the debt from $16.5 trillion to $15 trillion. I delayed the budget bust, pushing it from 2031 to 2033. I shrank the size of the government from 25.9% to 25.8%. I filled half of my economic stimulus badge. On the tall buildings I only did the + billions to make the buildings go down and then for the smaller buildings I would only do the - ones.
ReplyDelete-kaitlyn bjorngaard
The badges that I was going for were the Economic Stimulus, Energy Independence, and the Green badge. I tried my best to balance both cutting and spending on programs. I ended up playing 27 cards. I cut from the Military, Social Security, and Health Care. I reduced the number of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, raised the Medicare age to 67, increased drug costs for wealthier citizens, and added more taxes to reduce the debt. Then I spent a little bit more on research for cleaner energy among other things in Science and Nature category to increase the green and energy independence, increased spending on other researches and in the infrastructure department to create more jobs which would help increase the economy.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, I reduced the debt from 16.5 trillion to 13.4 trillion, delayed the bust to 2035, and reduced the government size from 25.9% to 23.9%. I also managed to acquire all 3 of the badges I had selected.
-Alex Dahl
My three goals were efficient government, superhero and green. green wasn't very difficult; all I had to do is raise funding for protecting animals and fund green energy. I did cut the space research thing because I feel we can do research on space from earth. Out of my three goals I found "superhero" to be the hardest. I had problems here because I didn't know what to cut; in the end I just ended up cutting most of the discresionary spending in the 'misc' section. efficient government wasn't very hard, I just revamped healthcare and cut things that health care didn't need. I also cut military spending because the way I see it we dont need to be in iraq or afganistan anymore and continueing to fight there is a waste of life and money. I only cut the troop numbers and I also cut forein aid. I cut forein aid because I feel that the world is not the US's responsibility.
ReplyDeleteI acheived all three of my goals with military and defense troop removal as my top card, and reforming and simplifying taxes as my second card
i pushed the budget bust from '31 to '40
I reduced debt from 16.5 trillion to 9.2 trillion
some of the things I increased were spending more on education for disadvantaged children and disabled children.
I reduced the debt from 25.9% of gdp in 2012 (5.6 trillion) to 24.4% of gdp (5.3 trillion) in 2021.
ReplyDeleteI also delayed the budget bust from 2031 to 2032.
I aimed for the super hero badge and efficient government, but received neither.
To do this i cut the foreign aid, while also cutting the space program. I cut the space program because i feel like it wasnt something that we had to do. I wanted to also cut discretionary spending, because if we just aimed on spending on what we need, we could save money.
-Boris C.
I did green, Economic Stimulus, and Super hero. I reduced the debt from 75.5% of GDP in 2012 to 72.8% of GDP in 2021. I delayed the budget bust, pushing it from 2031 to 2032. I shrank the size of government from 25.9% of GDP in 2012 to 25.7% of GDP in 2021. I didnt earn any badges, I was close of earning green
ReplyDelete-Nicole Perez
December 9, 2011 9:37 pm
ReplyDeleteKevin Lee
anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteby reducing government spending we can reduce the budget crisis. i have cut military spending by ten percent.i have also cut military soldiers. i have raised the cost of pills for the wealthy. i have also cut back on government traveling spending. with the resources available today government officials have other sources for communication. i have also cut back on government spending on arts and crafts.
i have reduced the budget crises from 2024 to 2034 and have shrank the size of the government by 25.9% of gdp in 2012 to 23.6% gdp in 2023
ramla Islaw
I choose Economic Stimulus, Safety net, and Super hero. I choose the first one because now more than ever we need economic stability. With these three I would hope that the debt would settle. It didn't, I maintained 75.5% all the through 2021.
ReplyDeleteSebastian Niesche
I decreased the debt from 75.% of GDP in 2012 to 49.6% in 2021. I earned all my badges that I chose. My goal was to get badges for economic stimulus, green, and energy independence. I cut troop numbers in Iraq and Afghanistan. We spend an extraordinary amount for military. I don't believe that it's all well spent. Furthermore, I froze military spending. I also found it to be common sense to cut discretionary spending. To continue to cut down our debts, I decided to cut medicare wastes and payments. Why spend on what we don't need? This game was interesting, I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteTheresa Bui
I chose the green badge and the economic stimulous badge and ended up only winning the green badge. I delayed the budget burst from 2031 to 2032 and shark to governments debt from $5.6 trillion to $5.5 trillion. some cards I played to get my green badge were "double funds for wildlife refuge", "protect more endangered species", and "fund research for clean energy". FOr the economic stimulous badge I tried to put more money into the economy by increaseing NASA funds, increase funds for the amtrac, and tax carbon emissions.It was definatly not easy to try and lower the debt and get your badges at the same time.
ReplyDeleteLindsey Goerss
i choose national security, competitive advantage, and efficient government and I earned all of them. i reduced 25.9% of gdp in 2012 (5.6 trillion) to 24.4% of gdp (5.3 trillion) in 2021. i also cut discretionary spending, and the space program. because i dont think we need to spend soo much money on something that isn't mandatory.
ReplyDeleteSuhaib A.
I chose national security, super hero and economic stimulus. I only won the national security I reduced the debt from 75.5% of GDP in 2012 $16.5 trillion to 15.8 trillion. I tried to make our country very strong military wise so we can defend our country. I also delayeyed the budget bust, pushing it from 2031 to 2033. I added more money to education because its important to the country. The size of the goverment also shrank from 25.9% to 25.4% of GDP in 2021. I also reformed and simplified the tax code. I believe that the military should be strong and a very good education.
ReplyDeleteMohamud Sugulle