Help cut the federal budget

[rameumptom]

Here's a great idea. Every week, the Republicans put up on this site 4 or 5 wasteful programs, and we citizens vote to see which one will be put up for a House vote. In this way, we get to see just who in the House is serious about cutting spending.

Eric Cantor || Republican Whip || YouCut

[Hemidakota]

Hey, where is the Obamacare vote cut ? Preserving over 1-5 trillion dollars for the tax payers in a single decade (including fraud waste and abuse).

[marshac]

I look at all five of the options and don't see much in the way of savings- sure, a few are one to two billion over many many years, but when we have a budget deficit of $1T THIS year, those billions are drops in the bucket. We need to cut $1,000,000,000,000 in spending, raise taxes by $1,000,000,000,000, or some combination of both.... and that doesn't even begin to touch the trillions in official debt outstanding, or the nearly $100T NPV in unfunded promises (SS, Medicare, etc). Unfortunately we will continue to do the politically palatable option- nothing- until the problem has compounded into an unsolvable mess.

[Moksha]

I wish you Republicans would leave the social programs intact. Maybe at some future date you can inact the Bo Gritz idea of defaulting on the national dept and saying so what.

[Dravin]

I look at all five of the options and don't see much in the way of savings- sure, a few are one to two billion over many many years, but when we have a budget deficit of $1T THIS year, those billions are drops in the bucket. We need to cut $1,000,000,000,000 in spending, raise taxes by $1,000,000,000,000, or some combination of both.... and that doesn't even begin to touch the trillions in official debt outstanding, or the nearly $100T NPV in unfunded promises (SS, Medicare, etc). Unfortunately we will continue to do the politically palatable option- nothing- until the problem has compounded into an unsolvable mess.

Nickles and dimes are better than nothing though. You are correct though, it's not like a couple of these proposals (or even dozens) are going to solve anything and suppose there is the risk of people thinking, "We cut 100 billion over 10 years, all is well!"

[Voyager]

What could China do if we decided to go bankrupt?

[marshac]

What could China do if we decided to go bankrupt?

You mean insolvent? In theory we can never be insolvent since all our debts are denominated in dollars, and unlike Greece we control our own currency... practice is another matter however.... the Federal Reserve isn't actually a government agency and its shareholders (yes, the federal reserve has shareholders) include the likes of JP Morgan Chase and other very popular firms.... so why would they want to water down the value of their product?

There's a reason why our founding fathers detested the idea of central banking.

[Hemidakota]

What could China do if we decided to go bankrupt?

They will follow the same path. Who do you think is China number one biggest customer? Not Europe...

[Hemidakota]

I wish you Republicans would leave the social programs intact. Maybe at some future date you can inact the Bo Gritz idea of defaulting on the national dept and saying so what.

Not being a publican, let all social programs be handled and given to the states.

Edited June 11, 2010 by Hemidakota

[dorave]

What could China do if we decided to go bankrupt?

I believe when China build a big enough middleclass it'll pull the plug on buying US debt n' investments and shift much more towards it's own domestic economy.

This will be dire for the West.

[rameumptom]

I think once there are enough nations indebted to China, it will start dictating terms to those nations, even as the USA is dictating terms to GM and the banks it has purchased.

[dorave]

Indeed, it can collapse the US too tho, in a way where the USA and China switch hats, and we all become feeder nations to China's increasing middleclass.

Edited June 13, 2010 by dorave

[Hemidakota]

Some money to spend in which there is none to give at this time.

Obama pleads for $50 billion in state, local aid

washingtonpost.com - nation, world, technology and Washington area news and headlines

[Hemidakota]

I think once there are enough nations indebted to China, it will start dictating terms to those nations, even as the USA is dictating terms to GM and the banks it has purchased.

When this nation feels the weight of financial, natural or GOD like calamities could the Chinese military take the advantage of taking over this nation by crossing the ocean when chaos ensued?