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House Republicans move to slash domestic programs

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Ironically enough not one of the cuts proposed by house republicans is to their own government sponsored health care, which they oppose for their constituents but receive for themselves.

That was an amendment offered by Republicans in the previous session of congress. Guess you missed it. Republicans voted overwhelmingly in favor of giving all members of congress and their staff, the same level of coverage in Obamacare. Dumbs didn't want it for themselves, just for everyone else. Ah, but guess you forgot about that didn't you Taka.

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The problem is this penny ante cutting is strictly politics. If you don't go after the sacred cows you can't fix the problem: ss, Medicare, defense. Were running trillion dollar deficits and you want to cut foreign aid? Why bother?

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Ironically enough not one of the cuts proposed by house republicans is to their own government sponsored health care, which they oppose for their constituents but receive for themselves.

The tea partiers got played and played hard. Pretty easy to understand. They aren't that bright.

Taka

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Some programs to consider being axed or altered:

terminate the Food Stamp program;

cut federal pay by 50 percent; cut the federal work force by 25 percent;

end funding to NPR/PBS;

end all foreign aid (except in cases of natural emergencies);

elimination of the thousands of overlapping social (i.e., handout) programs for the "poor";

removal of federal highway funding for any state that offers financial incentives to people entering the U.S. illegally

Not one of those will ever happen.

Hmm, welfare to the poor, about a trillion a year, more if you count additional programs. Bailouts for the super rich were how much exactly? How much is it if you take out companies like Government Electric, or Government Motors, which are 2 of Obamas [Obama's] biggest donors? Hell of a lot less now isn't it. - Rush Limbaugh

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The welfare to the poor is very small when compared to the welfare to the super rich = out of the trillions of bailouts small business and middle class/poor got maybe 1% that money. And below poverty people that couldn't afford the homes they bought were a small minority also (6-7%).

Hmm, welfare to the poor, about a trillion a year, more if you count additional programs. Bailouts for the super rich were how much exactly? How much is it if you take out companies like Government Electric, or Government Motors, which are 2 of Obamas biggest donors? Hell of a lot less now isn't it.

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The welfare to the poor is very small when compared to the welfare to the super rich = out of the trillions of bailouts small business and middle class/poor got maybe 1% that money. And below poverty people that couldn't afford the homes they bought were a small minority also (6-7%).

Why should Goldman Sachs get unlimited funding from the Fed at 0-1/2% yet you need to pay 5/10/20/30% for the same -if you are even allowed to borrow the money (many banks would not even give out loans even to customers that have previous lines of credit like small businesses).

Just charging these banks a fair interest rate of 3% would earn the US billions and reduce the speculation on markets.

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they is just so damn successful at it, that is why they are still poor!

The leeches within our society have been conditioned for generations that as long as they receive monthly welfare checks and food stamps, there's no need for them to actually seek employment.

but they ain't the only ones, and some of the others are VERY, VERY successful moochers and leeches.

True dat. Professional democrat politicians have carved out entire lucrative careers promoting class warfare.

RR

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govt intervention, if not outright control (best way to eliminate innovation)

The irony of that comment from a guy who seems to spend a very large part of his time banging out comments on the US-government-created internet is beyond awesome!!!

I see also that RomeoRamen is continuing on the heroin vs. cocaine argument. And poor people, of course!!! Them is what is ruining America, and they is just so damn successful at it, that is why they are still poor! The poor may indeed be generational moochers and leeches, but they ain't the only ones, and some of the others are VERY, VERY successful moochers and leeches.

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Unemployment inched up further in January. Foreclosures this year are expected to rise a staggering 300 percent. You can see why the media would rather focus on them "mean" Republicans in the new congress, and on Sarah Palin, and on cranky old Glen beck...

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sushisake3 says "Then, funnel the billions saved into developing world-leading enviro and renewable energy tech and solutions to get ahead of the Chinese, Germans, Dutch and every other country that is roaring past the U.S. in this sector."

If they (and every other country - - who you don't name) are 'roaring past' us what would be the point of throwing money at a catch-up attempt? Since you,like most socialists, undoubtedly support big unions, early retirement, govt intervention, if not outright control (best way to eliminate innovation), even you must by now be aware that America cannot have all of these and have the kind of dominance we once did.

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Some cutting's got to be done, and regardless of how much the government might try and avoid it, ANY cutting will be painful. I have my suspicions about what's going to be proposed, given the people proposing it.

Still, I WILL say this: the only thing I've ever agreed with in terms of the Tea Partiers is in their statement that NOTHING should be off the table -- not even the defense/military budget.

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"Insane spending policies" has been the USA's (unstated) only economic policy since Nixon ditched the gold standard, the oil price shock happened (USA hit peak domestic oil in 1970 also), and Carter got his head handed to him. The Ponzi scheme worked for close to 30 years, but the American economy can't support the debt levels no more and so the revenue has dried up.

It actually goes further back than that.

The democrats' social engineering experiment (aka, The Great Society) with its out-of-control spending has been going on since the mid-1960's. The democrats have spent like drunken sailors on shore leave for decades. The cost of giving something to "poor" people (i.e., the generational leeches and moochers in our society) for nothing is bankrupting America.

RR

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Badsey- Tariffs are a non-starter because according to neo-classical economic theology and its partner the neo-liberal agenda, tariffs are bad. Very, very BAD. And defending that theology and agenda are far more important that actually try to fix anything.

Not up to speed on the FEMA camp stuff, but agree with your other points.

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I know this is a pointless exercise, but the problem is NOT the government debt and deficit. The problem is the TOTAL debt in the system. Arguing over which party is more irresponsible is like arguing about whether you should use heroin or cocaine. "Insane spending policies" has been the USA's (unstated) only economic policy since Nixon ditched the gold standard, the oil price shock happened (USA hit peak domestic oil in 1970 also), and Carter got his head handed to him. The Ponzi scheme worked for close to 30 years, but the American economy can't support the debt levels no more and so the revenue has dried up.

Cut this, cut that, don't tax me etc. Where exactly do you guys think money comes from and what exactly do you think it is? Well in the present system, money is the government debt which is then multiplied many times over in the banking system through fractional reserve lending to create the total money supply. If there was no debt there would be no money. So if you cut government spending and debt you will create a huge shrinking of the money supply as the multiplier goes into reverse.

Why else do you think governments all over the world spend like crazy, and FED keeps the pumps on full. Anybody who thinks the problems can be solved by smaller government has no clue how far up the creek they really are. They could have been avoided by not spending in the first place, but they can't be fixed now by not spending.

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Tariffs would bring large amounts of money into the treasury and discourage outsourcing of profits. End the Federal Reserve and the zero interest loans to Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan et al (criminal banks). End the war(s), cut defense spending massively >50%, end drug-dealer CIA and the crotch-grabber TSA and their FEMA camps.

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A key reason the deficit is so big is because conservatives - like you - supported bush's insane spending policies in the first place.

Wrong. Some partisan republicans supported the spending policies, Democrats enthusiastically supported it, but Conservatives were against them.

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Romeo - "Great to see the republicans are looking to cut significantly, which is what they were elected to do. Democrats only want to spend significantly until they get tossed out of office; leaving republicans to clean up their messes....again!"

LOL! almost fell off my chair laughing reading that one. :-)

A key reason the deficit is so big is because conservatives - like you - supported bush's insane spending policies in the first place.

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Some programs to consider being axed or altered:

terminate the Food Stamp program;

cut federal pay by 50 percent; cut the federal work force by 25 percent;

end funding to NPR/PBS;

end all foreign aid (except in cases of natural emergencies);

elimination of the thousands of overlapping social (i.e., handout) programs for the "poor";

removal of federal highway funding for any state that offers financial incentives to people entering the U.S. illegally

RR

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I'm all in favor of raising the ss age. The baby boomers will kill that for sure though. 100 billion is nothing. Go for the big buckets: defense, ss, and medicare.

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Great to see the republicans are looking to cut significantly, which is what they were elected to do. Democrats only want to spend significantly until they get tossed out of office; leaving republicans to clean up their messes....again!

RR

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Get rid of the Department of Education and you're already to the halfway mark on that 100 billion. It's a failed institution as far as I'm concerned.

Raise the SS age to 80 or some other relatively uncommon number like when it was first set in the 30's when almost nobody lived long enough to collect on it. Or just abolish it all together as it's joined at the hip to the general fund.

Sell off Amtrak, as of now it's a pipe dream. Maybe some investor can make it work but right now those trains may as well be burning money for fuel.

Place downright draconian requirements on those collecting federal aid whether it be Medicaid, welfare, or otherwise. It's gone from a safety net for those down on their luck to a lifestyle passed down from generation to generation.

Revise the tax system. I've always liked the flat tax but I'm willing to compromise so long as whatever we get looks nothing like the current one. Close loopholes and cut down the paperwork because it's eating up money the whole way through.

Put serious consideration towards cutting any program not related to defense, R&D, or infrastructure.

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Heh, you can always count on Republicans to do what's wrong for America. The bloated DoD budget should be slashed by 20%.

Sushi, did you read the article? Obama was raising it.

And if your BMI is over, say, 35% then cut SS payments by 5%. And if anyone screams that their Constitutional rights are being violated, cut theirs by 10%.

here comes fascism. I thought you supported democracy?

Some more ideas -

Stop funding to the UN.

Eliminate the EPA.

Eliminate the NEA.

Eliminate the DoE.

Repeal Healthcare bill.

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Anything else is just cosmetic.

$100 billion compared to the trillions of US dollars Bernanke is pumping out is a drop in the bucket, and the trillions he is pumping out is a drop in the bucket compared to the size of the credit losses in the US economy. The endless arguing over trivial budget amounts is just a show to make it look like the politicians are doing something. So you don't spend $100 billion dollars, whoopee!!! Even if they go through with it it won't matter one bit.

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Introduce an across-the-board 2.5% cut in Social Security payments for 5 years. And if your BMI is over, say, 35% then cut SS payments by 5%. And if anyone screams that their Constitutional rights are being violated, cut theirs by 10%. That way, overweight folks will have a strong financial incentive to trim their fat, and it will help slash lifestyle-related health costs at the same time. Then, funnel the billions saved into developing world-leading enviro and renewable energy tech and solutions to get ahead of the Chinese, Germans, Dutch and every other country that is roaring past the U.S. in this sector.

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What they should do is end the FED and the wars, and bring all their troops home, where they belong.

Anything else is just cosmetic.

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Heh, you can always count on Republicans to do what's wrong for America. The bloated DoD budget should be slashed by 20%. Get rid of or downsize all redundant weapons systems like long-range bombers and at least 1 of the 11 carrier battle groups could be shut down or put in temporarily decommissed. There's billions in savings right there.

Have Republicans got the spines to call for cuts like this? Does the U.S. really need Stratofortresses for urban warfare?

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Free ride is over, grasshoppers.

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