I think there is a ton of stuff to cut from the federal govt:
1. Cut all foreign aid. We can't afford it, we have no business propping up tyrants or cronies of politicians, and 'american interests' is too vague & fuzzy to define in order to give billions of american taxpayer dollars away.
2. Pull out of all foreign military bases. Same reasons, and add that the us is not the world policeman, & we have no business bombing or killing citizens of other sovereign nations.
3. End the federal welfare state. Let the states provide a safety net. They can make it more suitable to their conditions, rather than have a 'one size fits all' policy. There would be less corruption, less waste, & it is easier for local govts to manage local problems, anyway.
4. Pick your acronym.. then end it. EPA, DOE, any and all of the bloated govt agencies that allege to manage us are mostly corrupt & unnecessary. The states can handle just about anything in those areas. Our representatives can pass laws regarding interstate & international commerce, & i'm all for reasonable rules for the environment & overall safety.. but we could let the states do that, too. The executive branch can enforce the laws, secure the border, manage immigration, & other things the constitution mandates.
5. Fix social security. During most of the history of the us we didn't have anything like social security. But if we want it now, it should be properly managed & funded, not like the ponzi scheme it has become. It would be better if we just required all people to put a percentage in an ira or 401k type of retirement acct. Or, if you'd rather it be risk based, require life insurance. I'm sure the actuaries could keep the costs pretty low if everyone paid into them, & if they got the kind that matured, they would not have more payments in later years.
6. Balanced budget amendment. It is immoral for one generation to rack up huge debts to leave to the following one. Each generation should pay for it's own mistakes, wars, social experiments, & whatever else they spend the taxpayers' money on. There would also be all the money saved on interest.
I'm sure there are more, but this is a good start. I see over 50% of our budget cut in some of these things. We can pay down the debt, pass the balanced budget amendment, have fair taxes for all, & get more free market growth & industry going.
I don't think many of these things can be done in one year. It would take time to wean many off of dependency.. foreign bases, aid, welfare, almost all will need a transition period to make it happen. But it can happen, & we should do it.
I'm also for campaign reform, & ending the lobby based revolving door to wealth that is the current system. I think if we took much of the discretionary spending from the politicians, there would not be much to lobby, & we'd see it decrease. It is like illegal immigration. End the money & you end the problem. If there were not fat govt contracts to get.. if a federal project like interstate highways is wanted, it can be voted for by the populace, put into an overseen management, & done. There would be little need for lobbyists to whisper in a politician's ear or bring expensive gifts if the politician had no real say in where the money went.
There is too much power in the hands of the federal govt. The money people.. bankers, military corporations, etc, all benefit from decisions made & the easy spending the govt does. The money follows the power, & feeds it. If we can get some of that power away from the govt, & return it to the people & a republic based nation of universal laws, we can limit the corruption that takes place. That will return more money to the people.. the bankers will have to woo us, rather than the politicians.
Nothing is easier than spending public money. It does not appear to belong to anybody. The temptation is overwhelming to bestow it on somebody.
Calvin Coolidge
It is not that power corrupts but that power is a magnet to the corruptible.
Frank Herbert
Of course the truth is that the congresspersons are too busy raising campaign money to read the laws they pass. The laws are written by staff tax nerds who can put pretty much any wording they want in there. I bet that if you actually read the entire vastness of the U.S. Tax Code, you'd find at least one sex scene ("'Yes, yes, YES!' moaned Vanessa as Lance, his taut body moist with moisture, again and again depreciated her adjusted gross rate of annualized fiscal debenture"). ~Dave Barry
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