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Budget Cuts Just Another Show

I am not sure where to began with this post. It could be drinking hot chocolate instead of coffee has my thinking muddled in the anger that awash my body at the recent pandering in D.C. to the lowest least common denominator. I am disappointed that the president in an attempt to continue his quest for bipartisanship in D.C. has committed to several cuts that will do nothing for the deficit. I am angered that GOP members have put out a list of 74B in budget cuts when our deficit is 1.4T. The fact that these cuts are nothing more than retaliatory cuts at best is even more madding. The cuts proposed will do nothing to offset the budget. In fact these cuts will help add to the deficit.

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In making the budget cuts, the party of "no" just looked to what President Obama asked for in 2011 and said no. (http://bit.ly/dTW8JM)
The List of 70 Spending Cuts to be Included in the CR follows:

· Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies -$30M
· Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy -$899M
· Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability -$49M
· Nuclear Energy -$169M
· Fossil Energy Research -$31M
· Clean Coal Technology -$18M
· Strategic Petroleum Reserve -$15M
· Energy Information Administration -$34M
· Office of Science -$1.1B
· Power Marketing Administrations -$52M
· Department of Treasury -$268M
· Internal Revenue Service -$593M
· Treasury Forfeiture Fund -$338M
· GSA Federal Buildings Fund -$1.7B
· ONDCP -$69M
· International Trade Administration -$93M
· Economic Development Assistance -$16M
· Minority Business Development Agency -$2M
· National Institute of Standards and Technology -$186M
· NOAA -$336M
· National Drug Intelligence Center -$11M
· Law Enforcement Wireless Communications -$52M
· US Marshals Service -$10M
· FBI -$74M
· State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance -$256M
· Juvenile Justice -$2.3M
· COPS -$600M
· NASA -$379M
· NSF -$139M
· Legal Services Corporation -$75M
· EPA -$1.6B
· Food Safety and Inspection Services -$53M
· Farm Service Agency -$201M
· Agriculture Research -$246M
· Natural Resource Conservation Service -$46M
· Rural Development Programs -$237M
· WIC -$758M
· International Food Aid grants -$544M
· FDA -$220M
· Land and Water Conservation Fund -$348M
· National Archives and Record Service -$20M
· DOE Loan Guarantee Authority -$1.4B
· EPA ENERGY STAR -$7.4M
· EPA GHG Reporting Registry -$9M
· USGS -$27M
· EPA Cap and Trade Technical Assistance -$5M
· EPA State and Local Air Quality Management -$25M
· Fish and Wildlife Service -$72M
· Smithsonian -$7.3M
· National Park Service -$51M
· Clean Water State Revolving Fund -$700M
· Drinking Water State Revolving Fund -$250M
· EPA Brownfields -$48M
· Forest Service -$38M
· National Endowment for the Arts -$6M
· National Endowment for the Humanities -$6M
· Job Training Programs -$2B
· Community Health Centers -$1.3B
· Maternal and Child Health Block Grants -$210M
· Family Planning -$327M
· Poison Control Centers -$27M
· CDC -$755M
· NIH -$1B
· Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services -$96M
· LIHEAP Contingency fund -$400M
· Community Services Block Grant -$405M
· High Speed Rail -$1B
· FAA Next Gen -$234M
· Amtrak -$224M
· HUD Community Development Fund -$530M

(All reductions are compared to the President’s fiscal year 2011 request)


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Take a quick look at my world of macro economics. Government spends money in low income sectors > low income sectors patronized businesses that supply basic needs > owners of those businesses (i.e. Walmart) make money > owners can hire people to take care of customers (or to hide their name badges when you need help in the store) > Government receives income from owners and workers of businesses. I am sure I have over simplified the model but it is not rocket science. I learned this stuff in 3rd grade.

The science comes in getting millions of Americans to believe that those cuts offered will make a difference. The science is getting millions of Americans to believe those cuts will help them. If our government was serious about deficit reduction then the 2001 Tax Cuts of the Bush era would have been allowed to expire. As we have seen in the 10 years of the Tax Cut experiment, tax cuts do not create jobs or balance the budget. Allowing the income tax to rise a modest 3% would halve our deficit in less than 20 years. The proposed budget cuts will not reduce our deficit by 10% in 20 years. A lesson in math is required in the GOP controlled House.

Since the GOP has had the House, they have not produced one bit of legislation that was not aimed at attacking the president. They have not produced one bit of legislation, backed by sound numbers, that will actually help Americans. Every ounce of legislation produced by the GOP has been political and not practical. These people are still treating our country as a football game where winning seats is everything. We must do something now to stop the economic decline of our country. This country is where our children's children' children will live. Our doing nothing but eating popcorn while watching this C grade (carnival) show puts their pursuit of happiness in danger. It is time to close the curtain on this show.

A few reads about the proposed budget cuts.


http://fxn.ws/iirTtp
http://econ.st/e3hlf1
http://bit.ly/gjOQ4X

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