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Originally Posted by QBNCGAR  Meet me in the middle, Bear. What we spend today is of no consequence to me; it's too much.
According to the FY2009 federal budget, our receipts are $2.7 trillion and outlays are $3.1 trillion.
Iraq - $120 billion
Discretionary G/TWAT - $70 billion
Discretionary Defense - $515 billion (up from $479 billion in 2008, and $302 billion in 2001)
Discretionary DHS - $37 billion (this is the DOD-centric component, not the extra $40 billion for every other department)
IRS - $11 billion (don't get me started)
Discretionary Department of Agriculture - $20 billion
Dunno about you, but I see about $300 billion we can trim from this list, maybe all $400 billion you need to get the budget balanced again.
$1 trillion of the $3.1 approved in FY2009 is discretionary spending. $600 billion for "security" alone. Anyone else work for a company that has clamped down severely on all discretionary spending? Easy, no. Simple, yes. |
But the consequences of "what we spend today" is somewhat significant. That budget, which started 30 days ago is already outmoded as it projected revenues based on things like NO Recession and a reasonably steady job market. That has all changed in just the past 30 days. It means less in and more out if "all else is equal.
I agree that there are plenty of things to change. As a systems guy, looking at how to cut costs to make things run more efficiently is what I do [I don't just do silly media things, those are the fun jobs].
You are on the right track with a couple of those items. DoD and DHS can be cut. Iraq needs to simply stop being a drain. We either tell Iraq to pony up to cover their backs or we leave NOW, no tapered withdrawal. Just "abandon in place" all the heavy stuff and fly out.
IRS is an interesting one. The cost $11B to collect $2.7T. It's really not a bad ROI. I know there is redundancy there but not as much as you would think considering they ARE in EVERYONE's panties.
But even if we get the budget down to Revenue=Appropriations, which is a VERY good thing, Clinton did it for several years, we still need to address that soon to be $12-13T National Debt as it's interest - $600B per year is a drain on the Revenue side and would be a GREAT place to start tax cuts when it is paid OFF.
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