You can't reduce the deficit and balance the budget by cutting out necessary services for the poor, elderly and sick, eliminating the arts and squeezing the middle class. Even if it were not socially cruel and irresponsible, there isn't enough money there to balance the budget and pay off our debts. The proposed tax increases largely eliminate some of the loopholes for the wealthy and corporations that are used to keep their tax burdens artificially low. Some examples are: $3 billion over ten years by eliminating a tax break for corporate jet owners (which, officials noted, is not the same thing as the incentive in the stimulus bill for businesses to buy assets such as planes)*; $20 billion from treating as regular earned income the “carried interest” hedge fund managers make; $45 billion by eliminating oil and gas company subsidies; $60 billion from eliminating a business tax break known as LIFO (last in/first out accounting); and $290 billion from capping at 28% the amount Americans who earn more than $200,000 ($250,000 for a family) can make deductions for all itemized deductions, such as for charitable contributions or mortgages. (taken from ABC news) These are reasonable tax increases that will cause no undue hardship and are not unfair to anyone. They are certainly in no way comparable to the harm caused by reducing money to schools or eliminated Medicare.