Smaller, Fisical Responsible Fed Gov (Balance Budget - get rid of DEBT) (McCain, unemployment)

[unseengundam]

(Sorry about any error, math or typos. Kind of long post!)

It seems to be some how more and more people support bigger role for federal government. In last election both McCain & Obama had huge plans to save economy (like $750 bil bailout). I really don't think making government bigger will make US any better.

What the US needs a is small, light-weight, and efficient Federal government that can get job done quickly. Of course, much of current Federal Government should be given back to the States. In the 1800s the US seemed to be running OK without huge government, large taxes or Federal Reverse. I think it would wiser to go back to days of smaller government instead of keep/enlarging the huge monstrosity of current Federal government.

What I want us to do is take a semi-detailed look at the Federal Budget and cut to as much as possible. Of course, ahead of time I am sure debate will what to cut, completely get rid, or keep/expand.

================================================== ================================================== ====
(take from 2008 United States federal budget - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Here is source of Income:
Estimated receipts for fiscal year 2008 were $2.66 trillion.

* $1.25 trillion - Individual income tax
* $927.2 billion - Social Security and other payroll taxes
* $314.9 billion - Corporate income tax
* $68.1 billion - Excise taxes

Please click on the link for the rest of the information.



One budget I want to look at in details is defense. This is taken from http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy...et/defense.pdf.

Department of Defense 2008
(In millions of dollars)
Spending
Discretionary Budget Authority:
Military Personnel......................................... . 116,280
Operation and Maintenance .................................. 164,714
Defense Vessel Transfer receipt account .................... —
Legislative proposal, Defense Health Enrollment Fees and
Deductible (non-add) ........................................ 1,862
Procurement....................................... ........... 101,679
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation .................. 75,117


Please click on link for the rest of the information.


Now Let me move on what I want to change or get rid in spending. Note, I am not going to account for inflation, you can do it if you want to!


* Mandatory spending: $1.788 trillion (+4.2%)
o $608 billion (+4.5%) - Social Security
I want a complete phase out of SS for anyone under 40. So in 40 years, this should be 0.

o $386 billion (+5.2%) - Medicare
Medicare should be turned private. Again a phaseout, anyone under 40 doesn't Medicare.

o $209 billion (+5.6%) - Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
Let this for now (maybe try to make more efficent). Say 75% reduce ( -52 bil)

o $324 billion (+1.8%) - Unemployment/Welfare/Other mandatory spending
This should be elimated in say 10 years.

o $261 billion (+9.2%) - Interest on National Debt
National Debt should be payed off in 30 years


* Discretionary spending: $1.114 trillion (+3.1%)
o $481.4 billion (+12.1%) - United States Department of Defense
o $145.2 billion (+45.8%) - Global War on Terror
Let look at Defense budget for this. The goal for US Military should be to have Technology Superior Force to able to defeat any enemies (terrorist or other nations). It shouldn't however go out try create global reach everywhere. HOwever, remember on of the most important duty is of Fed is defend US. So Cut I think we should make should too high.
Here are my cuts for this:


(In millions of dollars)
Military Personnel......................................... . 116,280
Cut in Half to 50 bil ( -66 bil)

Operation and Maintenance .................................. 164,714
Cut in Half to 80 bil ( -84 bil)

Procurement....................................... ........... 101,679
Make it more efficent, maybe reduced to 80 bil ( -20 bil )

Research, Development, Test and Evaluation .................. 75,117
NO CUT. We must keep technological edge.

Military Construction...................................... .. 18,233
Should be cut in half to 9 bil ( -9 bil )

Family Housing........................................... .... 2,932
Cut in half to 1.5 bil ( -1.5 bil )

Emergency funding for the Global War on Terror 1 ............. 141,665
In 10 years, this should be reduced to 10 billion and but as part normal DOD budget.

Total cut / Spending: ( -180.5 bil cut ), spending now = $446.1 billion

o $69.3 billion (+0.3%) - Health and Human Services ( Elimate )
o $56.0 billion (+0.0%) - United States Department of Education ( Keep fully )
o $39.4 billion (+18.7%) - United States Department of Veterans Affairs (KEEP FULLY)
o $35.2 billion (+1.4%) - US Department of Housing and Urban Development (Elimate)
o $35.0 billion (+22.0%) - State and Other International Programs ( cut in half, -17 bil )
o $34.3 billion (+7.2%) - Department of Homeland Security ( Keep fully )
o $24.3 billion (+6.6%) - Energy ( Keep fully )
o $20.2 billion (+4.1%) - Department of Justice ( Keep fully )
o $20.2 billion (+3.1%) - Department of Agriculture ( Keep fully )
o $17.3 billion (+6.8%) - National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( Keep fully )
o $12.1 billion (+13.1%) - Department of Transportation ( Cut 75%, -9 bil )
Cut to 75%. States should handle thier down transportation!

o $12.1 billion (+6.1%) - Department of Treasury ( Keep fully )
o $10.6 billion (+2.9%) - United States Department of the Interior ( Keep fully )
o $10.6 billion (-9.4%) - United States Department of Labor ( Keep fully )
o $51.8 billion (+9.7%) - Other On-budget Discretionary Spending (Cut inhalf, -26 bil )
o $39.0 billion - Other Off-budget Discretionary Spending (Cut in half, -19.5 bil )


Total Discretionary Budget cut: -356.5 bil
Total Discretionary Budget: 760 billion
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My 2009 Budget:

Estimated receipts for fiscal year 2019 were $2.66 trillion.

Mandatory spending: $1788 bil
Total Discretionary Budget: 760 billion
Pay off National Debt: $120 billion
Total Budget: about $2.68 tillion (BALANCED!)
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My Budget for after 10 years (some phase out, etc):

Estimated receipts for fiscal year 2019 were $2.66 trillion.

Mandatory spending: $1412 bil
Total Discretionary Budget: 760 billion
Pay Off National Debt: 500 Billion
Total Budget: about $2.672 billion

National Debt at 2019 should be about 9 trillion.
National Debt Should be payed off in 18 years, at 2037.


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(Again, Note, I am not going to account for inflation, you can do it if you want to!
New budget in 40 years (after SS phase out and debt paid off ):

Budget: 2049!!!


Mandatory spending: $157 bil
Total Discretionary Budget: 760 billion
Total Budget: $917 billion

Proposed Source of Income:

* 0 - Individual income tax ( no income tax )
* 0 billion - Social Security and other payroll taxes
* $314.9 billion - Corporate income tax
* $68.1 billion - Excise taxes
* $29.2 billion - Customs duties
* $25.7 billion - Estate and gift taxes
* $50.7 billion - Other
Total: 493.6 billion

Add in National Sales Tax for
* $ 423 billion - National Sales Tax @ 11%
Currently they say you need 33% National Sales tax to cover $1.25 Trillion Individual income tax. $423 Billion is about 1/3 of that $1.25 trillion. Therefor I estimate a smaller 11% sales Tax rate. Of course, we people can debate how to change the Tax structure here.
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I will leave up to you guys to debate what to cut and what not to cut. I would nice if you post your proposed budget for 2009 and for future years if you foresee an phase of a program.

[kb09]

I totally agree with you about a smaller government. Don't get me wrong, some government run programs do help, but you also have to remember, where is the money for that government program coming from? Either the taxpayer or bonds. Truth be told, the day when taxes for ALL citizens will be raised just to keep our heads above water is in the near future. It's either that, or borrow more money, or borrow more money or...wait for it, wait for it...BORROW MORE MONEY! The instant gratification complex of our society is a part of the reason for this insane debt. On the positive side, it pulls money into our economy and helps fuel it, but on the negative side, NO ONE is thinking about what is going to happen say, thirty to forty years from now when my generation are going to be the main ones fueling the economy. And the ones that are thinking ahead are being drowned out by those that say we need to bailout these companies. Some economist say that if we continue down this path that the federal government will be bankrupt within the next thirty years. That's bad; really, really bad.

Government only serves a few key purposes. It serves the purpose of national defense, legislation, emergency relief, and foreign exchange. Government gets it's money from the taxpayers. Do you know how much money we would save annually if we cut government power and put more power in the hands of the states? For instance, lets talk about federal prisons. If we stopped funding federal prisons, we would no longer have to pay the warden, gaurds, and utilities it takes to run those faculties. If we left the war on drugs in the power of the states instead of a federally run project, we could save billions that could be invested in say, REDUCING THE NATIONAL DEBT. Government is good, but too much government puts us in a situation we have right now where we have over ten tril. in debt, are sinking deeper into debt, and looks like we won't ever see the light of day again.

[cleatis]

I'm sort of half on the fence with fed government size. On the one hand I see many areas where the fed has too much power and is just a sluggish machine at times. On the other hand I think there needs to be a little bit of something to keep states from getting too out of line (such as schools in Texas using the bible as their history textbook).

I tend to think that the reason large government has become popular is to expedite the process (the fed and especially the president has a lot more power than I think the founders intended). Problem is (as KB mentioned) americans just want everything right now. We are (at least seem to be) the largest group of instant gratification whores on the entire planet. Which brings a problem when considering our sluggish system in the face of the need (demand) for faster answers. Which I think leads to the division and overall loss of common ground amongst Americans; in other words, this is why I think we have all become so drastically divided on issues - there seems to be no common ground for any of us any more. This I think is due to the above reasons - we all want an answer and we're too impatient to wait for the "proper" process.

I think that bigger government is our band-aid fix.

[Pilot1]

Its ridiculous. The Federal Gov't is way too big and people just put up with it. Instead of raising taxes, they should reduce spending to balance the budget. The Feds are involved in issues never anticipated by the Foudnign Fathers who structured our system with a small Fed gon't and the state's holding the rights and most of the power. That ended after the Civil War.