I agree that cutting the dividend takes money out of the economy. So does budget cuts and more taxes. So does low oil prices and reduced spending by the oil companies. I also agree that we must spend more from savings than we would like in order to ramp down to a sustainable budget level. If you believe the economic forecast we will need to do all of the above now that the oil boom is over. At this point, the dividend is economic "crack" that has helped to build an economic bubble that is unsustainable into the future. It is ridiculous that we send an estimated 10-15% of the dividend to the feds right off the top. We would be best off to phase it out over then next two years and keep that money in our reserves. If we play our cards right we can keep the negative impact of any future broad based taxes to a minimum.