Ancalagon the Black Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Simple question: if, with the stroke of a pen, you could one and only one thing from the federal spending budget, what would it be? To be true to the spirit of the question, you can be general but not overly so. Saying "education" is OK, but saying "all discretionary spending" is not--you have to pick and choose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopper Dave Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Faith-based organizations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomerics Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Pork, then Chopper Daves answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amakadius Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 i would wave my magical wand and stop people from putting non football quotes and questions on redskins football sites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankbones Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 i would wave my magical wand and stop people from putting non football quotes and questions on redskins football sites. Wow, deep thinker. Maybe the tailgate isn't the place for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankbones Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Oh, and I would stop faith-based initiatives as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkLadyRaven Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 All Farm Subsidies, (top pick) then the endowment for the arts then Nasa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DjTj Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 I would cut the most obvious government spending for the wealthy by rolling back the estate tax to previous levels (but leaving the deduction intact) and doing the same with the capital gains tax. Government should not be about giving extra cash to the rich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 The National Edowment of the Arts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomerics Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 All Farm Subsidies, (top pick)then the endowment for the arts then Nasa In otherwords, you don't want Chom to have a job Actually, eliminating NASA would create a large securtity hole, and instead would put space funding in the hands of the Pentagon, not something that will improve anything by a long shot. I am a big NASA proponent, but they should not be eliminated. Hell, 1/2 of the worlds best scientific measurement instruments for metrology and optics are in NASA. They have testing facilities we need and use all the time. Eliminating it is not an option. What they need to do with NASA, just like any other Govt. burocracy, is eliminate wasteful spending. They need to institute cost savings measures. The irritating thing is that it is easy to impliment, you give the incentive to save money. Government has this habit of spending all the leftover money at the end of fiscal. This is so they will get the same amount of funding for the next year. Maybe, if the government allowed the managers to take a certain % of the savings, and distribute it amongst the workers in terms of bonuses, we would be saving a hell of a lot more money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancalagon the Black Posted October 6, 2005 Author Share Posted October 6, 2005 Pork, then Chopper Daves answer. Pork is very subjective, chom. You have to do better than that. i would wave my magical wand and stop people from putting non football quotes and questions on redskins football sites. For a 30-year-old, you're not quick at cottoning on to things (such as which areas of the site are for what), are you? I would cut the most obvious government spending for the wealthy by rolling back the estate tax to previous levels (but leaving the deduction intact) and doing the same with the capital gains tax. Government should not be about giving extra cash to the rich. Interesting response, but I don't think it's within the spirit of the question. Raising or re-raising taxes does not count as cutting spending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamingwolf Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 I agree with getting rid of the Arts funding too, Art is better starving or conning rich people who want to feel important(which I guess one could say is what the endowments is doing). We have to go after realistic targets, any pork target all politicians will band together and root you off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckydevil Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Interesting question I would have to go with the Department of Veterans Affairs( if given the option, my first choice would be the cut the DOD budget by at least 50%) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Interesting questionI would have to go with the Department of Veterans Affairs( if given the option, my first choice would be the cut the DOD budget by at least 50%) You're just trying to get me going, aren't ya :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckydevil Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 You're just trying to get me going, aren't ya I am dead serious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 I am dead serious I would venture to say if you cut the defense budget by 50%, you wouldn't have to worry about cutting other areas of the government because it wouldn't be here very long. As for veterans affairs, that is a debt that this country owes people who give the best years of their lives, or in some case bits and pieces of themselves or their lives, in defense of the country. This country owes those guys big time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckydevil Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 As for veterans affairs, that is a debt that this country owes people who give the best years of their lives, or in some case bits and pieces of themselves or their lives, in defense of the country. Oh, I get it. Welfare for me, but not for thee. Got to love conservative intellectual inconsistency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Oh, I get it. Welfare for me, but not for thee. Got to love conservative intellectual inconsistency. Welfare is something for nothing. As I said above, these guys gave up their youth, their limbs and sometimes their lives. As for "thee", what have you done to deserve welfare? I venture to say it's nothing in comparision to what I described above Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckydevil Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 As for "thee", what have you done to deserve welfare? nothing I didn't ask for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebornempowered Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Wow, deep thinker.Maybe the tailgate isn't the place for you. Actually, it probably is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckydevil Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 http://www.cato.org/pubs/handbook/hb109/hb_109-34.pdf According to cato, corporate welfare was as high as 90 billion in 2003( and I have no doubt that it is even higher now). If that is true, corporate welfare would be my first choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thiebear Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 The attachments to the 2006 budget.... With 180 days of vacation they should reduce the paperclips and make everything no longer than 3 pages so it can be read BEFORE its voted on. Three of those projects, totaling $223 million, are for the Gravina Bridge linking Ketchikan, a town of 8,000, to Gravina Island, home to the town's airport and about 50 people. Critics say it is an extravagant expense to replace what is now a seven-minute ferry ride to the airport. Alaska gets 5$ for every 1$ they put into Transportation??? Not too shabby but wrong.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbear Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 double post...just padding the stats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbear Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 I'd cut social securities checks. For every $2 over some nominal amount of annual income (say 40k?), the amount receieved in social security should go down $1. We're supposed to be making sure these people can afford a roof over their head and food on the table, not making sure they can afford a second home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomerics Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Pork is very subjective, chom. You have to do better than that. Non-discressionary spending, which has increased by over 25% during Bush's tenure, is that better? Are you looking for a line-item/dollar amount, or just a general area to cut? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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