…roughly $2.3 trillion of the $2.5 trillion in savings from the Republican Study Committee’s Spending Reduction Act would come from cutting non-defense discretionary spending to 2006 and freezing that spending through 2021.
Where does the rest of the money come from? The RSC wants to cut remaining stimulus funds, eliminate federal control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and eliminate automatic pay increases for federal employees for five years and reduce the federal workforce by 15 percent through attrition. The RSC has also proposed eliminating or cutting back more than 100 programs.
The list of programs is definitely worth reading. You’ll probably find one or two of your favorites on the list including arts, Amtrak, and international aid.
I predict that the puling coming from the Teabaggers will slowly begin to diminish, as they too, each and every one of them, discovers one of THEIR favorites on that list… “No Taxes! Small Gubmint! Don’t Tread On.. hey wait a minute.. GET YR COTTON-PICKIN HANDS OFF MY (fill in the blank).”
Idiots.
1. Farm Aid to Millionaires.
2. Corporate Tax Writeoffs to Firms Outsourcing US Jobs Overseas to Red China.
3. Mercenaries in Iraq and Afghanistan paid 3-5 times our soldiers costs.
Um, I couldn’t find those listed – where are they?
It depresses the shit out of me how even the absolutely most liberal of outlets – like, say, Slog – now offer without comment the fact that “defense” spending must and will never, ever be cut at all. It’s another way, and a big one, in which conservatives have more or less won the national dialogue.
Come on. Have you completely thrown in the towel? Not even a brief formal protest of our nation’s ridiculous, murderous sacred cow?
Not that I really blame you. Protesting military spending these days is spitting into the wind.
I’m looking forward to the very pretty (hell even inspiring speech) Obama will give when he signs the legislation that will kill of Social Security.
Of course everyone will applaud how he “reached across the aisle” to work with the Republicans.
.
@3, notice how we stopped protesting the wars back in January of 2009? Now THAT’S commitment from the left!!
The actual money saved by cutting those programs amounts to a pittance. It’s obvious that cutting funding for things like the arts or Public Broadcasting has nothing to do with saving money and everything to do with ideological opposition to art and non-commercial broadcasting.
It does amaze me that the federal travel budget is $15 billion/year! $15 Billion! Hell, Jetblue’s entire operating cost for a year is under $4 billion. Maybe the government needs to run its own airline.
A federally employed flight attendant – now that’s one surly combo.
@3 for the win. All we’re doing right now is giving China access to cheap resources using our military to protect them.
This all goes under the umbrella of John Boehner’s historic “Shitty Society” initiative.
military and anti-terror industries ARE big gubment
I was able to balance the budget using that NYT budget calculator w/o cutting any social services. All it took was cutting military spending and taxing the rich. The worst part was… it was just so fucking easy to do, and yet the Dems think it’s simply impossible to do in rl.
Did I miss eliminating health care for members of congress? I am sure its in the list somewhere.
You can’t be shocked when you realize that your opposition does not agree with you as to what the role of government is–she is your opposition for this very reason.
Maybe devil’s advocate here, but did we really need all of those programs? Surely it isn’t all bad that we cut some of them. Granted, I still think we should start hacking away at military spending (saying this as a veteran who ordered quite a lot of parts in the service), cut tax loopholes that permit people to pay less than they’re supposed to.
When I used the NYT budget balancer, I came in the black by a pretty good amount.
Skipping towards Somalia
I hate when Will agrees with me, but I guess broken clocks, etc.
Oh, so everything that makes America a first world country.
#14, you can’t seriously consider eliminating Mohair Subsidies
What cunts. Yes, yes, great plan!! No Amtrak! No funded endowments for arts or foreign development. No NPR! That’s what’s been breaking the budget! How did we miss it? That giant sucking sound is everything philanthropic or art-positive that the Fed does, being sucked into the void left by the Military Industrial Complex. No budget is too large for that.
You know, this list wouldn’t be total bull IF there was an equal dollar amount stripped from Military operating costs or military systems. Reduced arts endowment? No new lightweight M2s or replacement for the M9 for anyone. Reducing Amtrak funding? Sell the V22s to Belgians or something. Freezing pay for federal employees? Turn three aircraft carriers into artificial reefs. Then they’d actually be holding to their line of “shrinking government.”
I still wouldn’t be happy about it, but at least it wouldn’t be as slimy and intellectually dishonest.
Sure. The Republicans will save $2.5 trillion in non-defense spending. Then the next Republican who wins the presidency will start another endless war in a third world shithole and will piss away $5 trillion.
Turning the US into Iraq is no way to fight terrorism.
So basically if we can put any program we want to keep under the aegis of the Pentagon it’s safe, right?
It is interesting that they are calling for elimination of Title X family planning funding, while reducing the Federal share of Medicaid.
So, no money to help poor folks prevent pregnancy, then less money to help ensure those pregnancies are kept healthy, and, fuck, while they’re at it, less money for the health of the little ones, and less money to educate them.
I mean, I understand how short-sighted Republicans can be, but this is just ridiculous.
#6 Public Broadcasting
The thing is, cable and now the Internet provide a wealth of “PBS Quality” shows (Discovery Channel, A&E). It’s getting harder to see where the need is that can’t be supplied by existing media.
Defense
Well, this is the redefinition of the Federal role begun under Bush. It’s defense, not domestic. Each of the states has grown an apparatus more than capable of providing needed social services.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that the Obama Administration, with its retrograde re-Federalization polices, has hurt many of the state and local efforts to take over the situation. Example: The WA State Basic Health plan goes on the chopping block because people assume Obamacare will replace it. Very wrong!
Am I the only one who doesn’t even know what a bunch of these things are? This would be much more helpful if we learned what these programs did.
For example:
Appalachian Regional Commission.
New Starts Transit.
Legal Services Corporation.
John C. Stennis Center Subsidy
Eliminate Mohair Subsidies.
Really? We subsidize mohair? Sure, I have no problem stopping that. Along with that we can get rid of corn subsidies.
What I’m saying here is that a lot of this could be good to cut. I appreciate that they’re finally showing a list of cuts they want as a starting point. Granted, I think that a lot of those cuts are fucking stupid.
This is how negotiations work. This is their initial blue sky demand. Then Democrats come back with their blue sky demand. Then Republicans call Democrats communists, fascists and a variety of other incompatible insults. Then Democrats give in to 90% of their demands. See, this is how negotiations work.
Okay, where’s the damn list?
Start with all of the agencies that are named “Department of…” so and so. Cut them ALL. Federal government should only be concerned only with national defense (that does NOT include starting pre-emptive wars at the behest of the UN), and protecting individual freedom.