Guest
03-16-2010, 11:27 AM
Check out this list of acronyms for federal government departments and programs. It's a little dated, having been created in 2004. I'm sure there have been a lot more departments and programs and committees formed since then, the very least of which are TARP and all the new departments having to do with the stimulus. First, look at the list...
http://members.cox.net/govdocs/govspeak.html
The good news is that there appears to be a long list of departments and programs that make no sense to a lot of people and seemingly could be shut down with nobody even noticing.
The bad news is twofold. First, even if ALL these departments and programs outside the Department of Defense and those required by the Constitution--that is those that are funded by "discretionary" federal funding legislation--total federal spending would only be decreased by about $368 billion per year. That's only a 10.3% cut of federal spending. Yet, to balance the current federal budget would require cuts of 35.8%!
Remember, some of the stuff that would be shut down--stuff like Amtrak, the air control system, the Center for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, the SEC, NHTSA, the EPA, all the Homeland Security departments, the FBI, the DEA, the national parks, all the research grants that go to colleges, the Department of Education, funding of the interstate highway system, even the IRS and the Government Printing Office that prints our money.
The secondary bad news would be the wailing that would go up from both the government employees unions and all of the 435 Congressman representing all the government employees all over the country that work in their districts who would be terminated. And I'm not even mentioning the complaints from the public or the special interest owners of office buildings where all these people work.
That sort of Draconian budget cut would produce only a 10.3% cut in federal spending! That, when to balance the 2010 budget would require a 35.8% cut in spending!
See the problem? See why substantial cuts in programs we all rely on as well as tax increases are almost certain to be in our future?
Note that I have not mentioned Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid or any of the other entitlement programs among the candidates for spending cuts. The government spends $2.15 trillion each year on those programs, which are often classified as "mandatory" expenditures. Does it take very much of an imagination to see that many of the mandatory entitlement programs are going to have to be cut to balance the budget and begin to repay our national debt? Of course, that means benefit cuts, means testing, higher premiums or SSA payroll taxes, higher co-pays and deductibles, and other measures to cut the cost of those entitlements. And probably substantial income tax increases.
The only question is when, and who is going to tell us how our lives are going to change--our own Congress or actions taken by our creditors? Remember, China has already begun to reduce the amounts it is willing to lend to the U.S.
In the end, like any family which is spending more money than it is taking in we're going to have to decide what government benefits we feel we can't live without and then decide how we're going to pay for them. What benefits and services will we lose and how much will our taxes increase?
http://members.cox.net/govdocs/govspeak.html
The good news is that there appears to be a long list of departments and programs that make no sense to a lot of people and seemingly could be shut down with nobody even noticing.
The bad news is twofold. First, even if ALL these departments and programs outside the Department of Defense and those required by the Constitution--that is those that are funded by "discretionary" federal funding legislation--total federal spending would only be decreased by about $368 billion per year. That's only a 10.3% cut of federal spending. Yet, to balance the current federal budget would require cuts of 35.8%!
Remember, some of the stuff that would be shut down--stuff like Amtrak, the air control system, the Center for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, the SEC, NHTSA, the EPA, all the Homeland Security departments, the FBI, the DEA, the national parks, all the research grants that go to colleges, the Department of Education, funding of the interstate highway system, even the IRS and the Government Printing Office that prints our money.
The secondary bad news would be the wailing that would go up from both the government employees unions and all of the 435 Congressman representing all the government employees all over the country that work in their districts who would be terminated. And I'm not even mentioning the complaints from the public or the special interest owners of office buildings where all these people work.
That sort of Draconian budget cut would produce only a 10.3% cut in federal spending! That, when to balance the 2010 budget would require a 35.8% cut in spending!
See the problem? See why substantial cuts in programs we all rely on as well as tax increases are almost certain to be in our future?
Note that I have not mentioned Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid or any of the other entitlement programs among the candidates for spending cuts. The government spends $2.15 trillion each year on those programs, which are often classified as "mandatory" expenditures. Does it take very much of an imagination to see that many of the mandatory entitlement programs are going to have to be cut to balance the budget and begin to repay our national debt? Of course, that means benefit cuts, means testing, higher premiums or SSA payroll taxes, higher co-pays and deductibles, and other measures to cut the cost of those entitlements. And probably substantial income tax increases.
The only question is when, and who is going to tell us how our lives are going to change--our own Congress or actions taken by our creditors? Remember, China has already begun to reduce the amounts it is willing to lend to the U.S.
In the end, like any family which is spending more money than it is taking in we're going to have to decide what government benefits we feel we can't live without and then decide how we're going to pay for them. What benefits and services will we lose and how much will our taxes increase?