When local budgets need to be cut or taxes increased here are how the politicians prioritize.
First, extra-curricular activities at schools. Then teachers, then police and fire, then the local library, then the parks, and then busing, trash pickup, and school lunch programs.
Here are my priorities. First, teachers with tenure who haven’t taught anyone anything for 20 years go replaced by bright young teachers who care. Then cut the number of school boards in half. Thus, cutting superintendents and their staffs in half. Then streets and sanitation. The 5 guys standing on their shovels watching the one guy work. Go ahead and close the library. Cut the park board in half and their budget in half. Eliminate the mayor and city council and hire a city manager. Cut the city attorney’s budget in half. Cut the building department’s staff in half and issue a dictate that all permits must be approved or rejected in 14 days maximum. If more cuts are needed then look at police and fire, but at the top first. If more is needed put a hold on the school capital fund.
At the state level, it’s always state police first. Then state parks must close. Then it’s state social programs for the poor.
My priority is to slash the state staff by 50%. Outsource the secretary of state’s work with licensing. There are more under worked people in any state office than anywhere in the world. There are more employees in state offices that deserve to be unemployed than anywhere in the world. Outsource most state work to he best source. Outsource the prisons and jails.
At the Federal level, as we just saw, it’s social security checks, checks to the military, and Medicare.
For me, it’s the US Postal Service first. Outsource it tomorrow. The same with Amtrak, sell it tomorrow. Shut down Freddie and Fannie before they can run up more billions in losses. Cut the Department of Energy to the bone. Billions spent and nothing to show for it. Cut the EPA to the bone. They have done more dis-service to this country than any other agency. Shut down Homeland Security and force the other agencies to work together. The only reason it was created was the investigations on 9-11 showed the other security agencies didn’t work together. Give me a break. The first time one doesn’t the head of that agency gets fired. Simplify the tax code and cut the IRS to the bone. Repeal ObmaCare. Cut Congressional budgets to the bone. Eliminate government employee pension plans, put them into corporate-type plans, 401K’s. Cut staffs to Congress and travel budgets. Put all government workers on a medical plan that requires them to pay part of the insurance. Treat and pay Representatives and Senators like the mid=level managers they are. Put their pay on some incentive basis that gives raises or cuts pay based on performance against budgets.
If you believe any of these $2,3,4 trillion cuts being proposed are real, read what Doug Gordon sent as a comment to this blog.
This $4 TRILLION in deficit reduction would not pass muster in Fantasyland. All
the cuts are loaded on the very far end of a ten year period projection. What
most people would call that is a “wild ass guess”, but not our Congressional
Budget Office.
Here is an indication of the economic forecasting ability of said body. At the
end of July 2008 the deficit was estimated at $490 billion, a record, for fiscal
year 2009. In January 2009 the fiscal 2009 budget deficit was estimated to be
$1.2 TRILLION, but could go higher if a stimulus package was passed (and we all
know how that turned out). In February, the Obama proposed revised 2009 budget
estimated the deficit would be $1.75 TRILLION. — As it turned out, the
deficit was “only” $1.4 TRILLION, because those “shovel ready” projects couldn’t
get spending the stimulus fast enough to make it higher. Those estimates were
all made within 15 months of the end of fiscal 2009, and the erred from actual
by 65% too low, 14% too low, or 25% too high.
The year 2013 seems to hold a special place in your universe, because it’s after
the next major election. In January 2009 the CBO estimate of the 2013 budget
deficit was $257 billion. (Projecting for roughly 4-5 years). In January 2011,
the CBO estimate had changed to a $704 billion deficit for 2013 (projecting now
for 2-3 years in the future). That’s only a 174% increase in estimated deficit
in two years. Many estimates I’ve seen for 2013 have well over $1 TRILLION.
So, giving budget cuts 10 years in the future and saying you are fighting the
current crisis seems like the following to me.
An alcoholic hits bottom, wants to dry out, and his friends in the government
agree to help him. They give him a cot to sleep on in a working LIQUOR store,
where he will be unsupervised for over 12 hours a day, no questions asked if
anything is used/opened. But, in 10 years, the liquor store will close and he
has agreed to give up the booze at that point. (Of course, just as in our real
government example, in that 10 year period, somebody else could buy the liquor
store and keep it open or change the rules/agreement at any time).
Show me what you aren’t gonna spend in this year’s bloated, outrageous budget,
or it isn’t a real cut, it’s just “Congressional math”.
Thanks, Doug, it was too good not to include.
