The US national debt stands at just over $15 trillion and increases by about a trillion a year as far as the eye can see.

George Washington University Freshman Omeed Firouzi participated in "An Exercise in Budgeting". Their task was to come up with a comprimise budget that cut the deficit by $1 trillion over 10 years, or about $100 billion each year for the next 10 years. This would leave us with a $25 trillion debt when my three year old becomes a teenager.

He worked with former Congressmen Bob Carr (D-Michigan) and Orval Hansen (R-Idaho); Carr served in the House from 1975-1981 and Hansen served in the House from 1969-1975. The Congressman provided input on the economic and political impact of each budgetary proposal.

*Cut $30 billion from an infrastructure program to repair and modernize the nation's public schools

*Invested $30 billion to establish a National Infrastructure Bank to support road improvement

*Invested $43 billion for funding of the National Institutes of Health

*Invested $37 billion in grants to states for water quality maintenance and improvement projects

*Invested $55 billion in agricultural subsidies for farmers

*Eliminated $5 billion in funding for the arts and humanities

*Eliminated $3 billion by getting rid of the $1 dollar bill

*Invested $17 billion in Department of Education grants for education

*Invested $45 billion in federal subsidies for AMTRAK and other intercity rail systems

*Eliminated $30 billion in adjustments in federal work pay designed to keep up with private sector

*No change in the discretionary spending levels (the spending determined annually by Congress) that were set into law in the 2011 debt ceiling agreement

*Eliminated $1.12 trillion by adjusting spending levels and deficit projections with the assumption that withdrawal from Iraq/Afghanistan will happen as anticipated in current defense plans

*Invested $12 billion in funding for rail and bus security

*Invested $111 billion in TRICARE health insurance benefit for military retirees and dependents

*Eliminated $53 billion by canceling development of ground based National Missile Defense System, canceling the new squadron of Maritime Prepositioning Ships, and the Future Combat System Program

*Invested $4 billion by allowing more private contractors to perform equipment maintenance

*Eliminated $21 billion in the deficit by increasing per-ticket fees for aviation security

*$15 billion in target pay to meet military requirements in exchange for part of the annual basic pay raise

*Kept in place the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (or as conservatives call it, "Obamacare") which is projected to cut the deficit

*Did not implement the Paul Ryan plan for MEdicare

*Did not convert federal share of Medicaid payments for long term care services into a block grant for each fiscal year

*Did not tie basic premiums for Medicare Part B to 35% of the program's costs

*Saved $88 billion by adding public option to health insurance exchanges

*Saved $62 billion by limiting punitive damages in malpractice lawsuits and imposing a statue of limitations

*Saved $125 billion by raising the Medicare eligibility age gradually from age 65 to age 67 by the year 2027

*Did not raise retirement age of Social Security

*Gained $457 billion by increasing the maximum taxable earnings cap for Social Security payroll tax

*Did not use alternative measure of inflation for cost-of-living adjustments in Social Security

*Did not use progressive price indexing to decrease Social Security benefits for higher income seniors

*Saved $1.3 trillion by ending the Bush tax cuts for families making over $250,000 a year; extended the tax cuts for households earning less than $250,000 a year

*Did not eliminate taxes on capital gains and dividends

*Saved $453 billion by imposing a surtax of 5.6% on income earned over $1 million

*Saved $215 billion by gradually eliminating the home mortgage interest deduction

*Saved $633 billion by gradually eliminating tax-free employer contributions for health care

*Saved $219 billion by allowing charity deductions only if one gives more than 2 percent of Adjusted Gross Income

*Saved $44 billion by eliminating tax subsidies for the oil and gas industry

*Saved $291 billion by increasing the gas tax by 25 cents

*Saved $114 bilion by taxing the worldwide income of US corporations as it is earned

Omeed will be on the show this Sunday to talk about the process and outcome.