Stossel's Budget Proposal

Defense cut by 2/3: $475 billion (Federal Budget, pg. 58)

Medicare/Medicaid*: $441 billion (Cato Institute)

Social Security Means Testing: $170 billion (Heritage Foundation)

Eliminate Dept. of Education (includes Pell Grants): $106.9 billion (Cato Institute)

Social Security*: $85.7 billion (Cato Institute)

Eliminate Dept. of Transportation: $84.8 billion (Cato Institute)

Tax Amnesty: $80 billion (Rep. Jared Polis D-Co.)

Eliminate Dept. of Labor*: $78.6 billion (Department of Labor and White House)

Eliminate HUD: $60.8 billion (Cato Institute)

Eliminate Dept. of Agriculture*: $33 billion (Cato Institute)

Cut civilian employee compensation: $30 billion (Cato Institute)

Stop maintaining vacant federal property: $25 billion (Heritage Foundation)

Eliminate Foreign Aid: $21.2 billion (Cato Institute)

Eliminate Dept. of Energy*: $20.8 billion (Cato Institute)

Eliminate NASA: $19.6 billion (Cato Institute)

Federal Drug War: $15 billion (White House)

Earmark moratorium: $16 billion (Heritage Foundation)

Eliminate Fannie/Freddie Subsidies: $14 billion (Federal Housing Finance Agency (p. 10))

Eliminate Dept. of Commerce: $13.9 billion (Department of Commerce)

Eliminate Dept. of Interior: $12 billion (White House)

Legalize Pot, Online gambling, Immigrants: $12 billion (Rep. Jared Polis D-Co.)

Privatize Army Corps of Engineers: $10.6 billion (Cato Institute)

Cut federal employee travel budget: $10 billion (Heritage Foundation)

Eliminate National Science Foundation: $7.4 billion (National Science Foundation)

End EPA’s State and Local grants: $6.5 billion (Cato Institute)

Repeal Davis-Bacon: $6 billion (Republican Study Committee)

Privatize TSA: $5.7 billion (Federal Budget)

Cut Dept. of Justice’s State and Local grants: $5 billion (Heritage Foundation)

Privatize Post Office: $4 billion (White House)

Eliminate Small Business Administration: $1.8 billion (Small Business Administration)

Lease coastal plain of ANWR: $1.5 billion (Heritage Foundation)

Eliminate Federal Flood Insurance: $1.3 billion (CBO, pg. 3)

Abolish SEC: $1.3 billion (SEC)

Eliminate Corporation for National Community Service: $1 billion (Cato Institute)

Suspend acquisition of federal office space: $1 billion (Heritage Foundation)

End subsidies for public broadcasting: $500 million (Cato Institute)

Eliminate the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp: $480 million (Heritage Foundation)

Eliminate the FCC: $439 million (FCC)

Eliminate the Endowments for Arts/Humanities: $332 million (NEA/NEH)

Total Cut: $1,882,619,000,000

Current deficit: $1,645,000,000,000

Surplus Achieved: $237,619,000,000




(Research by Maxim Lott and Charles Couger.)

They don't need to drive us deeper in debt. They choose to. Tune in tonight at 10pm to see how they could choose differently.

--

*Notes

Department of Energy is eliminated except for Nuclear arms maintenance

Department of Agriculture is eliminated, except for food programs for the needy

Department of Labor is eliminated, except for 26-week unemployment benefits

Defense budget would still be $243 billion, more than twice what the next highest country (China) spends

Medicare and Medicaid savings breakdown:

Block grant Medicaid and freeze spending (226)

Repeal 2010 healthcare law (87)

Increase Medicare premiums (39.8)

Cut non-Medicare premiums (37.7)

Cut Medicare payment error rate by 50% (28.6)

Increase Medicare deductibles (12.6)

Tort Reform (10)

Social Security savings breakdown:

Price index initial benefits** 41.1

Raise the normal retirement age** 31.4

Cut Social Security disability program by 10% 13.2

motorfirebox said:
Edited edit: nevermind, for some reason I thought this was the actual bill. Short version of my response to this proposal: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Long version: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Christ, it is basically a declaration of war on the poor.

malkav11 said:
And I strongly suspect some of those declared "savings" don't actually add up. For example, the post office actually makes money for the government.

(AP) The Postal Service said Friday it lost $8.5 billion last year despite deep cuts of more than 100,000 jobs and other reductions in recent years.

Fixer said:
you don't want to cut defense spending by 2/3?

Coyotemike said:
Stossel proved long ago that he's a fucking idiot.

Fixer said:

I've never heard of him, but why not discuss some of the ideas and not the guy who compiled them?

motorfirebox said:
There's no point in discussing it as an itemized list. .

Coyotemike said:

His ideas are a slap in the face to every person who has to work for a living.

PointBlank said:
Especially one made a person that the OP "has never heard of" (which I don't buy for a second).

Fixer said:

I work for a living and don't feel slapped by talking about some ideas. You're letting your personal opinions on the guy taint your analysis.

Do you support the Federal Drug War, or would you want to see it ended? Can you not say you'd want to see it ended just because this guy Stossel also wants it?

Fixer said:
so, it's your way or no way, in this democratic republic?

Forgive me for not thinking that your way is the best and only way.

PointBlank said:
Well, no one is saying that it's our or no way. We're saying fuck no to Stossel's "way" which is just a publicity ploy.

A list of "cuts" that doesn't explain the cost of those cuts is typical non-thought by Stossel. Really, cutting 2/3 of the military would be great, but what would removing that money do? Where is it removed from? How would removing troops from overseas add to jobless numbers here? How would pulling 475 billion dollars help job figures or the economy? What would happen to the people who make weapons?

PointBlank said:
Why do people say they want to start a discussion and not participate? Why not start the discussion in the original post instead of only copying/pasting?