"You Cut" - Eric Cantor/Republican Leadership Online Project

[brenden.b]

Not sure if many of you have seen this website, but it is a projec of the Republican Leadership for us to be "involved" in giving suggestions on how to cut the budget. If anyone has any free time and what your voice to be "heard", check it out at:

hXXp://majorityleader.gov/YouCut/YourIdea.htm

I submitted my suggestions as cutting the defense budget, ending U.S. involvement in the Middle East, ending foreign aid, and leaving the U.N.

We'll see if they take those suggestions seriously. Maybe if they got a pile of them from a certain group of individuals, maybe some waves can be made.

[Elwar]

I spent a moment to suggest not just cutting, but closing whole departments.

[nobody's_hero]

The first thing I see when I click on "you cut" on the top banner of that page.

End the Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural Program
Saves $10 million over ten years at current spending levels

Wow. A million dollars a year? Should we replace that with a "learn Chinese educational and cultural program", since we're taking such drastic measures?

EDIT: I'm not saying that they should keep the program, at all. I'm just saying that if this is just something they can point to and say that they cut government spending, these republicans are not much good for anything other than keeping the seats warm at the Capitol.

[Stary Hickory]

Lawl if we could cut the budget....if I could DC would be a barren wasteland by tomorrow.

[brenden.b]

The first thing I see when I click on "you cut" on the top banner of that page.

End the Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural Program
Saves $10 million over ten years at current spending levels

Wow. A million dollars a year? Should we replace that with a "learn Chinese educational and cultural program", since we're taking such drastic measures?

EDIT: I'm not saying that they should keep the program, at all. I'm just saying that if this is just something they can point to and say that they cut government spending, these republicans are not much good for anything other than keeping the seats warm at the Capitol.

Yeah, that's what I thought. So I thought that I would provide them with some real suggestions. Like I said, it's nothing to get too excited about, but throwing a few real suggestions their way can't hurt, if you have a free moment to do so.

[sofia]

ENTITLEMENTS:
SS, Medicare, Medicaid, Other welfare programs (Unemployment/Food Stamps etc) account for about 40% of the budget

MILITARY
Military accounts for about 30%

INTEREST
Interest on debt is about 10%

Dems (and many Repubs) wont allow the first item to be touched....(The "throwing seniors and children out on the streets argument)

Neo-Cons (and many Dems) wont allow the 2nd item to be touched (The Al Qaeda and China aregument)

The interest cant be touched (unless we repudiate/renegotiate the debt)

Therefore, 80% of the budget will not be touched!

As for all the other departments....maybe....MAYBE...you'll see a modest 10% cut in salaries.

The SS and Mediscam pyramid schemes will continue to explode as the population ages...as will interest on the debt.

We are f*****d

The only solution is a 90% cut in military (which still leaves us with a defense budget double that of China)....and SS and Medicare need to be raised to age 70 with means testing.

Immigrants on food stamps and free housing need to be cut off immediately.

[nobody's_hero]

I voted to end the presidential campaign funding. It's a drop in the bucket, but it does seem sort of shady that the government has a fund to give stolen money to candidates that you might not donate to voluntarily.

[surf]

i don't know if i want him to have my email

[Stary Hickory]

Cut all welfare programs except for SS and medicare...cut it all in order to:"Try and help SS and Medicare become solvent"

Cut all military overseas spending, close down all bases overseas, and shed all the contractors in order to:" stop policing the world and bring our boys home"

Cut all special agencies funding, EPA FDA Dep of Education and so on so that" States can deal with these issues at a more local and effective level, and to create one very small agency that will only offering suggestions and be a thinktank"

In this way you can cut and still be politically viable. If the cuts are sold as a way to save SS and Medicare...Americans will bite. If you tell people that if they really want these agencies and programs that they can easily reproduce them at the state level...that gives them a feeling of not losing anything...and if its sold as a way to get more control and a more effective program it would work.

You have to package cuts correctly politically. SS and Medicare could easily become the main impetus behind MAJOR budget cuts in every other area if done right.

[brenden.b]

Nice...