What does Ron Paul want the federal budget to be?

[Raineee]

I'm just curious - if Ron Paul were to become President and had a cooperating congress, what would his federal budget look like?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/7a/U.S._Federal_Spending_-_FY_2007.png/800px-U.S._Federal_Spending_-_FY_2007.png

It's currently around 3 trillion...(actually isn't it closer to 4 trillion with Obama's new budget?)

Thanks in advance.

[Zippyjuan]

What would YOU like it to look like?

[Young Paleocon]

For State, Defense, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, and Justice Departments which I think is all of the departments he wants.....probably ideally about 700 Billion-1trillion, also including a few agencies possible CIA, information gatherers etc...

[Zippyjuan]

He has said he would honor commitments made to the elderly so that means he would not cut Social Security or Medicare. You cannot cut the interest on the debt until the debt is paid off- and that is piling up pretty quickly so that number is only going to get larger. That is $1.543 trillion in spending right there. He wants to reduce defense spending but not get rid of it.

Here is a bit more detailed budget to work from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget,_2008

[edit] Total receipts
Estimated receipts for fiscal year 2008 were $2.66 trillion.

$1.25 trillion - Individual income tax
$927.2 billion - Social Security and other payroll tax
$314.9 billion - Corporate income tax
$68.1 billion - Excise tax
$29.2 billion - Customs duties
$25.7 billion - Estate and gift taxes
$50.7 billion - Other

[edit] Total spending
Percentages in parentheses indicate percentage change compared to 2007. This budget request is broken down by the following expenditures:

Mandatory spending: $1.788 trillion (+4.2%)
$608 billion (+4.5%) - Social Security
$386 billion (+5.2%) - Medicare
$209 billion (+5.6%) - Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
$324 billion (+1.8%) - Unemployment/Welfare/Other mandatory spending
$261 billion (+9.2%) - Interest on National Debt
Discretionary spending: $1.114 trillion (+3.1%)
$481.4 billion (+12.1%) - Department of Defense
$145.2 billion (+45.8%) - Global War on Terror
$69.3 billion (+0.3%) - Department of Health and Human Services
$56.0 billion (+0.0%) - Department of Education
$39.4 billion (+18.7%) - Department of Veterans Affairs
$35.2 billion (+1.4%) - Department of Housing and Urban Development
$35.0 billion (+22.0%) - Department of State and Other International Programs
$34.3 billion (+7.2%) - Department of Homeland Security
$24.3 billion (+6.6%) - Department of Energy
$20.2 billion (+4.1%) - Department of Justice
$20.2 billion (+3.1%) - Department of Agriculture
$17.3 billion (+6.8%) - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
$12.1 billion (+13.1%) - Department of Transportation
$12.1 billion (+6.1%) - Department of the Treasury
$10.6 billion (+2.9%) - Department of the Interior
$10.6 billion (-9.4%) - Department of Labor
$51.8 billion (+9.7%) - Other On-budget Discretionary Spending
$39.0 billion - Other Off-budget Discretionary Spending
The Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan are not included in the regular budget. Instead they are funded through special appropriations.[1]

[Young Paleocon]

He has said he would honor commitments made to the elderly so that means he would not cut Social Security or Medicare. You cannot cut the interest on the debt until the debt is paid off- and that is piling up pretty quickly so that number is only going to get larger. That is $1.543 trillion in spending right there. He wants to reduce defense spending but not get rid of it.


Thought the OP wanted his "ideal" government budget, assuming everyone had been moved off of SS, and we had a constitutional sized government. May be wrong though.

[Zippyjuan]

Ron concedes that there is only about a trillion dollars in the 2008 budget which could even undergo some cutting. And he does not say he would get rid of all that.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul379.html

About one-third of this $3 trillion is so-called discretionary spending; the remaining two-thirds is deemed “mandatory” entitlement spending, which means mostly Social Security and Medicare. I’m sure many American voters would be shocked to know their elected representatives essentially have no say over two-thirds of the federal budget, but that is indeed the case.

He would ultimately like to be able to get rid of the income tax but recognizes that you would have to cut out the budget to a low enough level first.

Ron on Social Security where he proposes strengthening- not cutting it:
http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/document.php?id=960

[Invalid]

I don't think Paul wants to spend money on any of that crap. Ideally we have secession movements, but I think a president Paul would be supportive of these movements and an ally in the WH.


Paul would at least stop increases in those areas though so we could not feed the beast anymore for 4 years.

[Young Paleocon]

He often spoke of allowing younger people to opt out of it, and I assume diverting discretionary funds to make up for the short fall, and eventually in the long run have everyone weaned once those who were dependent died.

[Invalid]

I love how people always want some explanation so Paul can explain the ideal form of government. Set up some new racket to oppress.

Government is the ENEMY.

[Lafayette]

I'm just curious - if Ron Paul were to become President and had a cooperating congress, what would his federal budget look like?


As close to $0.00 as humanly possible, or as much as would be needed for the federal government to carry out its duties as defined in the Constitution.

[lasenorita]

The National Taxpayers Union Foundation conducted a study on the spending proposals of several 2008 Presidential candidates. Graphs, charts, and reports are available here (http://www.ntu.org/main/page.php?PageID=154). Hope that helps. :)

[Zippyjuan]

A link to their Ron Paul charts might be helpful.

[Raineee]

Alright, so the answer is 'as small as possible, eventually'. That's pretty good. ;)

So one more thing, the role of government in a Ron Paul world is basically just to enforce the law, keep America and her borders safe, and provide essential emergency services, correct?

[Bodhi]

As close to $0.00 as humanly possible, or as much as would be needed for the federal government to carry out its duties as defined in the Constitution.

+1

[Truth Warrior]

$5,707,762 / spent per MINUTE. Hmmm? There really should be SOME FAT in there somewhere. :rolleyes:

Let's see, it took 60 years for the US Federal government to spend the FIRST billion dollars ( 1789 - 1849 ) cumulatively.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/pdf/hist.pdf (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/pdf/hist.pdf)