How would you change today’s federal government spending and taxes to balance the budget?

The Wall Street Journal has come out with an online tool where you can do just that, selecting from a menu of prepared options that have been discussed in the public debate.

There are three screens of options to consider. The first screen takes you through the various tax increases and deduction limitation options. The second screen gets into the federal government’s discretionary spending.

The third screen then gets into the more meaty options related to the federal government’s “mandatory” expenditures, which covers benefit and entitlement spending.

The default plan we’re pointing you toward was developed by Mike Shedlock, who took on the intellectual challenge of balancing the budget without either repealing Obamacare or hiking today’s tax rates.

But should those options be off the table? Or should we be looking at other combinations of reduced spending and tax code changes?

Go ahead – take it for a test drive! Let us know what your optimal solution is in the comments!

Featured Image: Source: U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Clerk