Will the next chapter in the fiscal cliff saga be successful or not? It will depend on promises made on spending cuts to government entitlement and grant programs, including community and business project funding that needs to be eliminated or cut back, in order to payoff the $16 trillion deficit.

The only way to reduce the deficit is to combine both cuts to entitlements and increases in revenues. The cuts will come at the expense of many government programs including those that serve the needy. The increases will come by raising taxes on both the middle class and the wealthy taxpayers. Taxing just the rich will not make much of a dent in the deficit. Even adding increased taxes on the middle class, and much higher taxes on the wealthy will not be enough to close the outstanding deficit, unless they are tied to spending cuts on federal government entitlements, social and community based programs, business grant programs, and defense.

In other words, the government needs to take more from many taxpayers, and give less back to many recipients. This is not the kind of decision-making that politicians like to do. They prefer to cut taxes and increase benefits. That is why we are in trouble, financially, as a nation.

Our federal government needs to follow a simple procedure to stop spending and increase taxes. People are tired of being conned by each party’s extremists. The far left and far right radicals have each prevented a cooperative spirit of give-and-take negotiations that would benefit our country. Congressional leaders must work together to accomplish the task quickly.

Let’s look at some of our entitlement programs and why increased taxes are needed to reach our goal to pay down our growing deficit in this difficult economy. Entitlement programs are established by the government to guarantee benefits to particular groups of people who meet the agreed upon criteria, such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and unemployment insurance.

Why do major entitlement programs need to be revised? They need to be revised in order to be sustained. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid programs are in danger of being unable to meet their financial obligations, unless changes are made. Revisions in these programs are necessary for their  long-range survival.

These programs are now paying out more money for services than they will take in. More people are living longer now, with the fastest growing group being people over 85. Fewer workers will pay into these services in the future, as the birth rate drops. If revisions and changes are not made soon, the Social Security system could go bankrupt before 2024. In the case of Medicare, its costs are about to increase substantially, as up to 30 million more people are added for it to fund, under the Affordable Care Act.

Other entitlement and spending programs need to be reduced, and some probably should be eliminated, if there is little evidence of their effectiveness. The House and the Senate members must look into programs like public assistance, student loans, earned income tax credits, daycare programs, unemployment insurance, child care and dependent care tax credits, mortgage interest deductions, and funding for community-based organizations whose programs have not been shown to be successful.

Department of Defense budget cuts must also be on the table. Our military needs appropriate funding, but its budgets are bloated, and we spend far too much on outdated facilities in foreign countries.

The fuzzy math exhibited by both candidates for president wasn’t workable to pay off the huge deficit. The math was both misleading and incorrect. Now both sides have to agree to a bipartisan plan for deficit reduction. It must include raising tax revenues on both middle class and the wealthy, to close the $16 trillion deficit gap. Neither political party should obstruct making a deal. Republican legislators need to agree to revenue enhancement. Heavy cuts in government’s domestic discretionary spending must be supported by the Obama administration in order to solve the fiscal cliff situation.

Our government must pay off its debt, live within its means, spend less and increase tax revenues with a realistic annual budget. It has not happened for more than four years. A budget is needed, to be followed like a road map, on what to spend and money needed to pay off our deficit.

We need to raise taxes and cut spending, to successfully balance our budget and pay off the huge deficit.

— Bernard Featherman is a business columnist for the Journal Tribune and former president of the Biddeford-Saco Chamber of Commerce.