As Speaker of the House, John Boehner (R-OH 8th), said in his remarks after being sworn in as the leader of the 112th Congress, now comes the “hard work and tough decisions”.
We have reached a tipping point where the political / governmental ruling class now spends considerably more than it can ever take in. The federal budget must be cut now.
Back in October of 1987, Warren T. Brookes (Detroit News), writing in Reader’s Digest sited a study by Ohio University economists Lowell Gallaway and Richard Vedder, that simply stated that since 1947 every one dollar ($1.00) tax increase corresponded with a $1.58 in new spending. It is now 2011 and that differential has continued unabated. It is any wonder we find our nation in the financial mess it is in.
There is a roadmap for achieving the $100 billion in savings that the Republicans committed to in their campaign “Pledge”. Stated therein, “Cut government spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels saving at least $100 billion in the first year alone.” It will take a great deal of fortitude and the ability to sharpen the budget axe.
The following figures are based on the Fiscal Year 2011 (FY 2011) budget numbers. If the cuts are implemented it will reduce approximately $260 Billion in federal spending.
First, three departments and/or agencies should be completely eliminated.
Department of Education. Americans have always prided themselves on local control of schools. It should remain so. It makes absolutely no sense in sending valued tax dollars to a bloated Washington D.C. bureaucracy. Have them skim off a good portion of those dollars and then send the remainders back to the states. This is a department that was created during the Carter administration as payback to the teachers unions that supported him. It is essentially a department of paper pushers. The necessary functions can easily be folded back into a re-created Department of Health Education and Welfare.
Department of Energy. Essential functions can be folded into other departments like defense and other applicable agencies.
Corporation for National and Community Service. This governmental agency houses Americorp, among other things. Get rid of it. The savings would be $967 million dollars.
Second, let’s apply a twenty percent (20%) across the board cut to each of the following agencies. It would be the responsibility of each department secretary to recommend which discretionary spending should be cut.
Department of Agriculture Savings: $26.459 billion.
Department of Commerce Savings: $ 1.850 billion.
Department of Labor Savings: $23.343 billion.
Department of Interior Savings: $ 2.615 billion. Eliminating the Bureau of Indian Affairs alone would save 2.586 billion.
State Department Savings: $10.761 billion.
Environmental Protection Agency Savings: $ 1.834 billion.
National Science Foundation Savings: $ 1.359 billion. Additional savings could be realized by folding this agency under the auspices of NASA.
Small Business Administration Savings: $ 239 million.
Housing and Urban Development Savings: $ 9.507 billion.
Health and Human Services Savings: $180.170 billion. This department would be re-created into HEW by folding certain aspects of the Department of Education into it.
Third, the Department of Defense should be reconfigured to merge the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Veterans Affairs to allow for additional cost savings by consolidating duplicated functions. Defense Secretary Gates has already proposed $78 billion in cuts. Congress should give his recommendations vigorous analysis and act on those that would not impair the ability of our armed services to defend this country.
A much-needed cut in this area is the Veterans Medical system. Facilities around the country that are not on a military installation should be closed. It is important that we maintain our commitment to those that have served by providing them with the best possible medical care. Provide them with a Military Medical Card and allow them to use it with any doctor or medical facility in the country. This alone would bring about greater efficiency to the care of our veterans.
Finally, one of the biggest budget items weighing in at $791.681 billion is the Social Security Administration. It is imperative that Congress removes this from the federal budget and put the funds in a lock box. A path should be created that transitions it from the current Ponzi scheme it has become into a supplemental retirement fund it was set up to be. Time does not permit a thorough examination of this issue. On another date I will analyze it more fully.
In order to return our nation back to a better fiscal place, cuts must be made. Are these proposed cuts draconian? Not really. Would government workers be laid off? Yes, but if they are truly talented individuals they can function greatly in the private or independent sector by growing each. The time is now to make the cuts. Failing to do so will bring the nation to ruin.
