I picture a family sitting around a kitchen table with their bills spread out before them. The total due exceeds income by several times. They are smart enough to know that at the very least they need to cut their spending.
No matter how much some members of the family may object to the cutting of their "sacred cow," the weekly visit to the nail salon, and the Saturday morning golf game have got to go. Additional jobs might also be in their future. But with any added income they may earn, they also know, they need to pay down their debt and not spend it on more goods and services.
In contrast, we have an administration that has added more debt than all administrations put together since our nation's birth. The amount due far exceeds income, but they want to raise taxes so they can spend it, not on paying those overdue bills, but on new give-aways, the very things that have gotten us into this situation. And I'm hard pressed to find support for them in the Constitution.
The Constitution provides for a very limited federal government. In fact, Article 1, Section 8 carefully delineates the powers of the federal government and they are few. Over the years, Washington has stretched the envelope to the point where once the president of Congress decides on legislation, they write it up and pass it without even considering the Constitution. As a result, the government has grown well beyond what the Founding Fathers intended and is now funding television and radio programs among other things.
Now we find ourselves in a financial crisis. The Republicans want to cut an infinitesimal amount from the budge and the Democrats object and want to spend more. They all say they want a balanced budget, but not at the expense of their program, their sacred cow, and they're "having a cow" about it. Let me share some of the proposed cuts with you.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting Subsidy -- $445 million annual savings.
Save America's Treasures Program -- $25 million annual savings.
International Fund for Ireland -- $17 million annual savings.
Legal Services Corporation -- $420 million annual savings.
National Endowment for the Arts -- $167.5 million annual savings.
National Endowment for the Humanities -- $167.5 million annual savings.
Eliminate duplicating education programs -- H.R. 2274 (in last Congress), authored by Rep. McKeon, eliminates 68 at a savings of $1.3 billion annually.
U.S. Trade Development Agency -- $55 million annual savings.
Woodrow Wilson Center Subsidy -- $20 million annual savings.
Cut in half funding for congressional printing and binding -- $47 million annual savings.
John C. Stennis Center Subsidy -- $430,000 annual savings.
Community Development Fund -- $4.5 billion annual savings.
Heritage Area Grants and Statutory Aid -- $24 million annual savings.
Cut Federal Travel Budget in Half -- $7.5 billion annual savings
Trim Federal Vehicle Budget by 20% -- $600 million annual savings.
Essential Air Service -- $150 million annual savings.
Technology Innovation Program -- $70 million annual savings.
Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program -- $125 million annual savings.
Department of Energy Grants to States for Weatherization -- $530 million annual savings.
Beach Replenishment -- $95 million annual savings.
New Starts Transit -- $2 billion annual savings.
Exchange Programs for Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Their Historical Trading Partners in Massachusetts -- $9 million annual savings
Intercity and High Speed Rail Grants -- $2.5 billion annual savings.
Title X Family Planning -- $318 million annual savings.
Appalachian Regional Commission -- $76 million annual savings.
Economic Development Administration -- $293 million annual savings.
Programs under the National and Community Services Act -- $1.15 billion annual savings.
Applied Research at Department of Energy -- $1.27 billion annual savings.
Freedom CAR and Fuel Partnership -- $200 million annual savings.
Energy Star Program -- $52 million annual savings.
Economic Assistance to Egypt -- $250 million annually.
U.S. Agency for International Development -- $1.39 billion annual savings.
General Assistance to District of Columbia -- $210 million annual savings.
Subsidy for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority -- $150 million annual savings.
Presidential Campaign Fund -- $775 million savings over ten years.
No funding for federal office space acquisition -- $864 million annual savings.
End prohibitions on competitive sourcing of government services.
Repeal the Davis-Bacon Act -- More than $1 billion annually.
IRS Direct Deposit: Require the IRS to deposit fees for some services it offers (such as processing payment plans for taxpayers) to the Treasury, instead of allowing it to remain as part of its budget -- $1.8 billion savings over ten years.
Require collection of unpaid taxes by federal employees -- $1 billion total savings.
Prohibit taxpayer funded union activities by federal employees -- $1.2 billion savings over ten years.
Sell excess federal properties the government does not make use of -- $15 billion total savings.
Eliminate death gratuity for Members of Congress.
Eliminate Mohair Subsidies -- $1 million annual savings.
Eliminate taxpayer subsidies to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change --$12.5 million in annual savings.
Eliminate Market Access Program -- $200 million annual savings.
USDA Sugar Program -- $14 million annual savings.
Subsidy to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) -- $93 million annual savings.
Eliminate the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program -- $56.2 million annual savings.
Eliminate fund for Obamacare administrative costs -- $900 million savings.
Ready to Learn TV Program -- $27 million savings.
Deficit Reduction Check-Off Act.
All of these cuts come to a total savings of $2.5 trillion over ten years, truly a small percentage of the total debt, but it's a start. But, now prepare yourself. I'm sure we'll be hearing how heartless the republicans are; how they want children to grow up without knowing how to read; or how they want the earth to burn itself to a cinder because of climate change.
We already pay more in taxes than the Founders ever foresaw or intended, and in January, if Congress doesn't do something about it quickly, Taxmageddon will kick in and we'll be paying far more. We need to follow the Republicans' lead on this but cut far more than even they propose.
