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And like you I literally said I had no problem with monitoring and cutting actual wasteful spending. The problem is using that to justify massive sweeping cuts that will affect things that truly do benefit Americans and help them keep their jobs.
When an agency wastes millions and millions of dollars, they need a budget cut.
How much of a cut? I don't know and you don't know, because we don't see how they are spending their, I mean OUR, money. I do know that they receive too much money right now.
The military is no different. They need a major budget cut.
When I was once a government employee, I witnessed the "we need to hurry up and spend the rest of our budget, we must spend it all".
But again that is a systemic problem not a specific department. They should be finding ways to overhaul and rework that "idea" that if you didn't use all your contract funds you won't need as much next time - it needs to be rewarding for agencies to come in on time and under budget rather than punishing. Keep their next contract budget the same and take the left over funds and put 50% of them into bonuses for the actual employees and return the other 50% to the pool or something like that. That alone would vastly decrease wasteful spending. As it stands, if an agency does their job too well they are punished for it. Honestly any budget cuts without addressing this problem are just band aids.
I find this quite alarming. We have a lunatic, self-obsessed, narcissistic president who is building a larger military (and plans to have 'military parades'), who is holding rallies and who claims that he "has his own media," and states all the time that the all the other media outlets (the ones that use facts) are fake and lying.
His right-hand man is trying to dismantle the entire administration of the government and seeks to impose his 'alt-right' vision upon the world, as he fills up government posts with lobbyists, alt-right leaders and his own idealogs.
These guys are scary as hell, and if Trump's actions do not remind anyone of Hitler's, then you are in denial or not paying attention.
You should be an actor with all that drama! There was an election. We won. Government overreach was one of the reasons!
The poster is not the one with all "that drama". The Trump administration is the one causing the drama! Endless off the cuff tweets, that aren't even true, EO's that are unconstitutional, etc. Just because you "won" does not mean that this president is ok.
Any agency spending more than $6,000 per employee for furniture is wasting money. If they have millions to waste, they have room for budget cuts.
When I was once a government employee, I witnessed the "we need to hurry up and spend the rest of our budget, we must spend it all".
Do I want the EPA dissolved? No.
Yes I agree, also heard the end of year money debacles where they spend money before it expires. The cabinet heads he appointed should come up with a methodology for cutting waste, this is not well thought out..
Last edited by Goodnight; 03-16-2017 at 11:06 AM..
And how exactly does spending $150,000,000 on private luxury villas in Afghanistan, a $7000 coffee maker, losing $500,000,000 in weapons in Yemen, $700,000,000 for gem cutters in Afghanistan, and wasting millions on unecessary uniforms help keep America safe? Yet we choose to increase spending on that department, and it is a far, far bigger waster of tax payer dollars than the EPA. Look, I have no problem with oversight and clamping down on wasteful and outrageous spending like the chairs you mention, but there's a big difference between that and throwing the baby out with the bathwater. EPA programs also help keep billion dollar industries such as oyster harvesting alone in the Chesapeake afloat. Say good bye to jobs once the Chesapeake becomes a polluted craphole like it was back in the 70s and 80s. If you want to get upset about wasteful spending, there's no better place to start than the military.
Can someone explain how gutting the State Department is a smart move? Is diplomacy a bad thing now? Is our only goal to go to war?
I think this is perception among some that the State Department, and other government agencies, are bloated, inefficient bureaucracies that are staffed with cronies. In essence, a large budgetary cut could be part of a larger plan to reorganize into a more effective organization.
And how exactly does spending $150,000,000 on private luxury villas in Afghanistan, a $7000 coffee maker, losing $500,000,000 in weapons in Yemen, $700,000,000 for gem cutters in Afghanistan, and wasting millions on unecessary uniforms help keep America safe? Yet we choose to increase spending on that department, and it is a far, far bigger waster of tax payer dollars than the EPA. Look, I have no problem with oversight and clamping down on wasteful and outrageous spending like the chairs you mention, but there's a big difference between that and throwing the baby out with the bathwater. EPA programs also help keep billion dollar industries such as oyster harvesting alone in the Chesapeake afloat. Say good bye to jobs once the Chesapeake becomes a polluted craphole like it was back in the 70s and 80s. If you want to get upset about wasteful spending, there's no better place to start than the military.
Within the military (as in most areas of government) spending under different governments has different priorities. Obama and Bush may have decided that the highest priorities were to buy condos in Afghanistan while Trump may spend that same money on providing much better equipment for the troops, paying for more troops, taking care of those troops and veterans. The need for the equipment (since it may have been long overdue, condo fees being what they are these days) can mean that a greater outlay is necessary initially than last budget but once that is in place, the budget may fall. Trump, believe it or not, WILL take it as a priority too to try to get much better deals on things than previous Presidents did ... that is one of his specialties and talents. I also suspect he will not be paying as much under the table as the last administration .. he is kind of hard line on 'takers' who don't deliver on their end of the bargain. He doesn't tolerate stupidity too well either .. I expect he and his administration will not be buying too many of the wrong things or instituting programs that are either superfluous or out of scope for the military, with military budgeted monies.
There is always another way of looking at it all .. isn't there?
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