What would you cut from the 2011 Budget?

[cswake]

This thread (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=267347) got me thinking about where Ron Paul supporters stand on popular things to cut from the Federal budget. In other words, where would we cut to achieve a balanced budget in one year. This graph at WSJ does a nice job of showing where the Federal government's "income" comes from and where the expenditures go. The poll is based off of the items in it.

Congress spends $3.834 trillion, but only taxes $2.567 trillion. Assuming taxes are constant, $1.267 trillion of spending cuts need to be achieved. Interestingly enough, just paying for the "mandatory" obligations of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, plus interest payments on the debt amount to $2.416 trillion (1435.2 + 730.1 + 250.7), which leaves $151 billion for everything else.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704107204575038733246595218.html#p roject%3DBUDGET1001%26articleTabs%3Dinteractive

http://i53.tinypic.com/205eamf.jpg

Choosing "Medicare & Medicaid" means that you're taking away from the elderly and/or poor.
Choosing "Defense" means that you're cutting expenditures from war, overseas bases, and possibly from true defense spending like upgrades/development of our military equipment.
Choosing "Social Security" means you're generally taking away from the elderly.
Choosing "Non-defense" means you're cutting or abolishing Departments. (Department of Education, Energy, etc.)
Choosing "Net Interest" means that the U.S. defaults on its debt obligations, essentially preventing us from borrowing in the future. (Lots of people, institutions, and governments would lose tremendous amounts of money on this option.)

Unfortunately the "Non-defense" is difficult to understand what is at stake. It will include things like the Department of Veteran Affairs, Commerce, etc. Each of which have mandatory and discretionary components. Here's an additional explanation of the 2011 budget that gets into the minutia, such as $200 billion of the $744 billion in Defense budget goes to the Iraq/Afghanistan/Pakistan wars:
http://www.onlineforextrading.com/articles/2011-federal-budget

Here is a particularly nice "receipt" of where the average taxpayer's taxes go:
http://www.tax.com/taxcom/taxblog.nsf/Permalink/RGOR-8AFJRN?OpenDocument

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

Everything.

[jdmyprez_deo_vindice]

all of the above plus more

[nate895]

I want to cut everything, but as I said in another thread, America is a conservative country. Even if the people want to change/abolish something, it can't be done overnight. There needs to be something like a 30-year plan to phase out all of these different intruding government programs. Americans could swallow that, but they will not go for an overnight slashing of trillion-dollar programs.

They could go for an abolition of a couple of government departments in short order (1-2 years), such as Education and Energy.

[Kregisen]

I'd say everything on the list besides social security. We need to pay off who's on it and start it over either privatized or just giving people their own account. Also, I wouldn't default on our debts.

[malkusm]

I think it has to be gradual, and I think you can select each option without abolishing the entire thing. There are ways to incrementally cut spending that would (and should) be passed by a majority in both chambers.

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

I'd say everything on the list besides social security. We need to pay off who's on it and start it over either privatized or just giving people their own account. Also, I wouldn't default on our debts.

Um what? Why not have it at all and let people keep their labor & money?

[ctiger2]

Defense/Offense needs to be slashed by 50%.
Medicare/Medicaid/SS should be slashed by 50%.
Get rid of Dept of NRG, EDU, Cut & Merge Homeland Security w/Defense.
Indefinitely suspend Federal Income tax for all for starters.

[Fr3shjive]

I want to cut everything, but as I said in another thread, America is a conservative country. Even if the people want to change/abolish something, it can't be done overnight. There needs to be something like a 30-year plan to phase out all of these different intruding government programs. Americans could swallow that, but they will not go for an overnight slashing of trillion-dollar programs.

They could go for an abolition of a couple of government departments in short order (1-2 years), such as Education and Energy.

Correct. This stuff didnt just get sprung on us over night. Gorvernment grew to this size over the course of the last 60 years. You cant just start cutting everything over night. Its take a long time to get rid ofthe waste with out pissing off half the country.

For me, the easiest cut is military. 700 bases around the world seems like such a waste when the only confilct we're engaged in is in the middle east. Domestically we can probably also target a large amount of waste.

[Travlyr]

Everything.

[RonPaulCult]

People who say everything are not very thoughtful. The idea isn't to collapse the system, the idea is to restore the system because it's heading towards collapse. Even Ron Paul has long said that he doesn't want to target things like Social Security first.

Let's get rid of our overseas bases and foreign aid and all of the wasteful departments and programs first. Let's bring the troops home. You can't just walk into Washington and turn it into a libertarian utopia in one night. Especially since we only have a handful of true conservatives in Washington in the first place. Get realistic.

[RonPaulCult]

By the way, the wars since 2001 have cost us 1.1 trillion dollars - just short of the number we are trying to reach by cutting things.

[nate895]

People who say everything are not very thoughtful. The idea isn't to collapse the system, the idea is to restore the system because it's heading towards collapse. Even Ron Paul has long said that he doesn't want to target things like Social Security first.

Let's get rid of our overseas bases and foreign aid and all of the wasteful departments and programs first. Let's bring the troops home. You can't just walk into Washington and turn it into a libertarian utopia in one night. Especially since we only have a handful of true conservatives in Washington in the first place. Get realistic.

Yeah, I think we should start by cutting the wasteful pet projects of people in various government department. Pet projects abound in the military, so we could probably cut billions from the Pentagon's budget just getting rid pie-in-the-sky programs that are supposed to create the silver bullet. Then we can move on to cutting cabinet department budgets in the next Congress, hopefully at least. If Ron Paul gets elected we can abolish two or three cabinet departments and start phase outs of several more, and then move onto solving the Social Security/Medicare problem.

This could only be done with an electoral mandate, however. Ron Paul has to get over 50%, and win by 5-10% at least if we want to get anything done.

[sratiug]

The Federal Department of Education should be killed immediately. Think of the gains to state schools when all these brilliant educators flood the market. Make DOE the first year sacrifice for raising the debt ceiling. Prune the limbs from the tree, not the leaves.

Oh, that, and pick at least one foreign country to stop occupying in the same deal.

[tremendoustie]

The idea isn't to collapse the system, the idea is to restore the system because it's heading towards collapse.

I'm all for transitioning carefully and perhaps gradually in certain aspects so as to not create mass disruption, but why on earth would I want to "restore" this godawful system?

[pahs1994]

DOE can go. Also i agree social security needs a a cut-off date. Make sure the people that put money into it get paid but replace it with NOTHING and start allowing people to keep thier own money and invest it as they see fit

[RonPaulCult]

I'm all for transitioning carefully and perhaps gradually in certain aspects so as to not create mass disruption, but why on earth would I want to "restore" this godawful system?

When I talk about restoring, I talk about restoring our constitutional system of long ago. I talk about restoring our financial status in the world economy and the strongest. I talk about restoring the gold standard and sound money.

I don't wish to restore our current system.

[JamesButabi]

I would not remove pieces of the social safety net people rely on immediately but maybe lay out a plan of withdrawal. Yet I can see both cutting budgets and advancing freedoms both having net positives to the numbers.

Tightening of the budgets:
Begin immediate withdrawal of all forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Timetable of withdrawal of a large % of our world bases.
Immediately lay out a plan to stop foreign donations.
Privatize the TSA or charge airlines who wish to keep it.
End corportate welfare (bailouts, subsidies)
Plan an end to federal education - Return power to the states

Loosening of regulations:
Hemp and marijuana legalization
Reducing federal bureacracy enforcement of petty crime
Remove nonviolent offenders clogging prisons.

[LibertyEagle]

I would not remove pieces of the social safety net people rely on immediately but maybe lay out a plan of withdrawal. Yet I can see both cutting budgets and advancing freedoms both having net positives to the numbers.

Tightening of the budgets:
Begin immediate withdrawal of all forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Timetable of withdrawal of a large % of our world bases.
Immediately lay out a plan to stop foreign donations.
Privatize the TSA or charge airlines who wish to keep it.
End corportate welfare (bailouts, subsidies)
Plan an end to federal education - Return power to the states

Loosening of regulations:
Hemp and marijuana legalization
Reducing federal bureacracy enforcement of petty crime
Remove nonviolent offenders clogging prisons.

^^^ This.

Add to that shutting down a number of other federal government agencies. Any and all that are unconstitutional. DOE should just be the first.

[lester1/2jr]

net interest lol

[oyarde]

I would not remove pieces of the social safety net people rely on immediately but maybe lay out a plan of withdrawal. Yet I can see both cutting budgets and advancing freedoms both having net positives to the numbers.

Tightening of the budgets:
Begin immediate withdrawal of all forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Timetable of withdrawal of a large % of our world bases.
Immediately lay out a plan to stop foreign donations.
Privatize the TSA or charge airlines who wish to keep it.
End corportate welfare (bailouts, subsidies)
Plan an end to federal education - Return power to the states

Loosening of regulations:
Hemp and marijuana legalization
Reducing federal bureacracy enforcement of petty crime
Remove nonviolent offenders clogging prisons.

Plan of withdrawal is right .

[oyarde]

net interest lol

Yeah

[Working Poor]

pull out of other countries and end the war and end the fed

[osan]

Everything.

Exactimente!