OK, let us solve the budget deficit!

Thanks to a nifty article in cnnmoney.com based on info from the Joint Committee on Taxation, here are the top 10 biggest tax breaks for 2013-2017:

• $760.4 B -- Exclusion for work-based health insurance
• $708.6 B -- retirement savings breaks
• $616.2 B -- reduced rate on capital gains, dividends
• $379.0 B -- mortgage interest deduction
• $325.9 B -- earned income tax credit
• $291.6 B -- child tax credit
• $277.6 B -- state and local tax deductions
• $265.7 B -- tax deferral on foreign subsidiary income
• $258.0 B -- exclusion of capital gains at death
• $238.6 B -- charitable contributions

So, if we add it all up and divide by 4 fiscal years, we get:

• $1.03 trillion per year.

The current fiscal deficit is about $1.2 trillion per year. So if we charitably assume that the gov't can cut $200 billion per year from its budget, the + and – even out.

There, was that so hard?

As a conservative Republican, it is my opinion that none of the above tax loopholes have any economic rhyme or reason to exist, other than the fact that each one has a very powerful political lobby supporting it.