How to cut $600+ billion from the budget

Its reduction of federal spending that matters most.

 

Just reducing federal spending isn't going to help. You have to reduce it in the right areas, and I think it should be increased in some areas, namely science and technology.

 

First order of business is stop the red ink.

Science in the US has been perverted by the dominance of government funding ever since the 1960s.

Science has to clean house and federal money muddies things up.

Usable science and techological research can be done by the private sector.

 

The OP outlined many valid places to cut.

 

You have no proof that private investment in science is better than government funding, and it is not true. I do think the government has funded some stupid things in science like biofuels and most renewables. The private sector doesn't do any better. There is a lot of waste in both government and private investment in science, and anything for that matter. To stop the red ink, you can raise taxes and get rid of a lot of the tax breaks. I'm not satisfied with the rate of scientific progress in either government funded or private funded areas right now. It should be going at least 10x as fast as it is right now, and the only way to enact that is if all 300 million Americans each suddenly gain 50 iq points, or a much more likely scenario of replacing the stupid people we have in office with people who know which areas in science and technology to fund and how much.

 

The irony is always delicious.

Those who hate big government are always the same people who support fabricated wars against imaginary enemies.

The original post is absolutely correct.

The biggest waste of taxpayers money is defending a country that has no threats.

The trouble however is that the defence industry have controlled the US government since they killed Kennedy in 1963.

That is fifty years of exaggerated enemies and fabricated wars. It is a direct theft from the US public.

Trillions could be saved if the American people stopped falling for the pervasive lies that pollute their media and nation.

Allow me to clarify. There is no enemy. No one wants to kill you or invade your country. Stop falling for the lies and keep your money.

Whatever you do, do not fall for that PATRIOT joke that the leaders always sell you. It is not patriotic to give your hard earned money to defence industry dictators. It is not patriotic to support bombing innocent women and children.

 

I disagree, this is not the time to cut any jobs...


cut the waste, end the wars and let the tax cuts for the rich expire as they should of years ago

and end all extra tax cuts for companies outsourcing our jobs overseas...

 

I think it can be done with both, I much prefer some new technology be public domain and companies then improve on that.. like the internet

 

Prior to 1960, most of the non-defense reaerch in the US was privately funded.

Today there is very little private funding of research.

The Golden Rule ("He who has the gold makes the rules") applies in sciencejust like everything else. If the science does not meet government's agenda, funding dries up. Scientists aren't dumb. They don't want become OWS, so they toe the line that government agencies draw for research.

Thus, science in the US has become perverted by government.

Better no science than perverted junk science.

 

The jobs in question ARE a waste. The idea that all jobs are good jobs in a monstrous fallacy that falsifies the purpose of jobs, which is the produce goods and services demanded by consumers. Jobs that produce goods and services demanded by politicians with other peoples' money are a waste.

 

so republicans want unemployment to go up, I am saying "this" is not the time to cut jobs, wait until the economy recovers

 

I'm not a Republican, but I want unemployment to go up if it involves throwing people out of wasteful, useless, resource-consuming jobs so that that labor can be reallocated to productive, valuable jobs. There's no better time to move labor out of the many unproductive jobs in our economy into productive. Defending jobs on the basis that they're jobs results in a static economy in which we're bailing out buggy-whip makers.

 

For the last forty years non-defense government workers have been economically counteroroductive.

Putting them on the bricks will be economically beneficial.

 

The first part of your post is one of the smartest things I've seen someone say on this forum, but you've drawn the wrong conclusion from it. There are a lot of jobs that are absolutely worthless. However, private businesses create just as many worthless jobs as government does. Some companies do surveys to see if they can rip customers off, an example of wasted jobs. Actually, there are a lot of jobs created trying to get as much money out of customers as possible without raising the quality or quantity of a product.

 

Maybe by the CURRENT U.S. government, but government funding of research will not turn out to be that way if you pick the right leaders. If the government's agenda is helping its citizens like it should be, then you should have better funding. I think the real problem though is our leaders are just stupid along with the people who elect them. If you have people making their own decisions, it effects people who are competent just as much as if the government was making the decisions.

 

I agree completely. You could have the same number of jobs and make them more productive. The approach I favor though is reducing the work week to 30 hours or so while still paying the same as working 40 hours a week. There is no reason that humans have to work 40 hours a week anymore with the technology we have. Both approaches will get rid of wasted jobs.

 

I agree depending on which workers you are talking about. If it's the social security workers and IRS, I agree. If it is government scientists, I completely disagree.

 

Does this mean the abolishment of the Peace Corp?

 

good, then it would begin to correct properly.

 

Only $600 billion? Cut our defense budget by that alone and we would still spend more than the next country in line by almost 4 times.

 

Malinvestment on a large scale can only be creating by govt intervention and the fed keeping rates too low for too long is what lead to the last round of massive malinvestment. So what is the solution? That's right....drop rates to zero for an even longer period of time....Lets see how that works out.

Wait till the treasury bubble bursts.....

 

You'd be cutting about 2 million jobs, maybe more, if you did that.

 

2 million jobs? I think those 2 million individuals would be of better use upgrading America's aging infrastructure.

 

a job that needs government to support it, is not worthy of supporting.

 

and those individuals become insolvent and go away.