Numbers

[flamin lib]

Just in time for Christmas, or Festivus for the rest of us, the Republican controlled Senate passed a budget bill that will cut spending by $40 billion over five years. It passed by one vote, cast by VP Dick Cheney. (Ya' know, some people can wear the name Richard and some can't. Cheney just looks like Dick to me) Anyway, we need to be fiscally responsible right? Okay, lets look at some numbers.

$560,000,000,000 or about $6,600 for a family of three is the annual deficit. (I like using the zeros, it gives a bit more perspective on the size of the numbers) We are going to cut $8,000,000,000 out of it. That's a little more than 1.4%. That 1.4% came from student loans, food stamps, child support enforcement and Medicaid. Congressman Joe Barton (R TX) said it is important to increase Medicaid co-pays to "insure personal responsibility" in people using the system. How does one take personal responsibility for a sick kid? Take 'em to the doctor, right? Whoops, that just got tougher if you're poor. The Medicaid cuts saved a whopping $380,000,000 or less than a rounding error in the budget.

But wait, there are two sides to balancing a budget. The other side is revenues, or income. Suppose we don't extend the Bush tax cuts which shelter the top 2% of incomes in the country? That would reduce the deficit by $253,000,000,000 or by 45%!

Now suppose we got some other parts of the budget to share the pain a little. Take the Pentagon for instance. Our military budget is $453,000,000,000. Cut that by 1.4% and we'd save $177,000,000,000. That plus the tax cuts would reduce the deficit by $77%.

Cut the military spending you say! Mustn't we be strong to fight terror? How strong is strong enough? Worldwide military spending is $950 billion. (okay, I'll stop with the zeros) The US spends 48% of that all by ourselves. China spends $56 billion, Russia spends $50 billion to our $453 billion. The Axis of Evil spent a combined total of $16.1 billion.

What are we getting for those hundreds of billions of dollars? Doesn't seem to be body armor. Doesn't seem to be up armored vehicles. Doesn't seem to be troop strength 'cause some of those troops we're supporting with little yellow magnetic ribbons are on their third tour in Iraq. It's gotta' be all that high tech whiz bang stuff like jet fighters, right? In a recent joint US/India war exercise the Russian built fighters outperformed the US planes. When the pilots traded airplanes the results were the same. The Russians spend 11% of our budget and build better airplanes?

I've got an idea. Why not just Walmart the Pentagon? Buy everything from off-shore for the lowest cost and out source everything else. If a General needs something let him do what our teachers are doing with school supplies, just buy it out of pocket.