While Congress has been in gridlock for weeks over debt talks, ABC News asked five regular Americans--varying in age, gender and ideology--what measures they would take to raise the debt ceiling and cut federal spending. After looking at possible tax increases, subsidies and entitlement, the group came up with $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction. And it only took an hour.
Some specific adjustments they made to the budget:
- They said no to eliminating home mortgage deduction
- They agreed on raising the retirement age to 68
- They agreed to increasing the corporate tax rate by 1 percent
- They agreed on ending ethanol and farm subsidies
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