Proposed budget cuts

[MaggieMae]

Here's a partial list of what Republicans propose:

GOP Budget Cuts | Jamie Dupree Washington Insider

While you peruse the list, keep this in mind. A good message from Ali Velchi, CNN's money guru, from last Sunday's "In The Money" program, which I think sums it up nicely:

VELSHI: Time now for the XYZ of it. You will be hearing a lot of talk these days about the federal budget deficit and how congress, particularly Republicans in congress, want to slash it. It is a popular position. One that was key to the conservative victory in last year's midterm elections. President Obama got the message. He's been paying more lip service to the issue since then. But here is what you need to know.

The drive to cut federal spending could have a dire impact on already strained state budgets. And that's going to curtail public services where you live. Things like schools, roads, libraries, garbage collection, public swimming pools, and, as we have seen, bad weather response. By last year because of the recession more than a third of state budget expenditures were being paid for by transfers from the federal government. That's a big jump from previous years.

The great recession decimated state budgets. Property taxes dropped along with foreclosures. State tax revenue fell as consumers spent less, and business taxes fell as mom and pops shut their doors. Obviously state income tax dropped along with the number of people who were employed, but states pulled back on their spending and at the same time they were forced to rely more on the federal government, particularly for essential services like hospitals and teachers and emergency services.

So while we're all struggling to figure out what to cut from the federal budget, remember that all the cuts can only come from a small percentage of Uncle Sam's spending pie. The 15 percent of it known as non-security discretionary spending and that is precisely the slice that your state may be relying on to keep your police at full force or your firehouses open. Curbing our government spending is necessary, but the how and the why and the what are equally important.

CNN.com - Transcripts

 

[Terral]

Hi Maggie:

Here's a partial list of what Republicans propose:

GOP Budget Cuts | Jamie Dupree Washington Insider

While you peruse the list, keep this in mind. A good message from Ali Velchi, CNN's money guru, from last Sunday's "In The Money" program, which I think sums it up nicely:

VELSHI: Time now for the XYZ of it. You will be hearing a lot of talk these days about the federal budget deficit and how congress, particularly Republicans in congress, want to slash it. It is a popular position ...

So. Now three years after the economic collapse of September 18, 2008 through March 2009 the Republicans want to talk about spending cuts. How sweet. Please allow me to demonstrate why no amount of cuts to all the budgets will do one bit of good:

1. The current National Debt total is surpassing 203 trillion dollars with Unfunded Liabilities alone at:

USDebtClock:

112.5 trillion dollars and climbing by a million dollars about every seven seconds. That amounts to 1,015,263 dollars for every taxpayer. In fact, that number alone is 50 trillion dollars greater than total national assets and nobody is taking about cutting defense or unfunded liability spending.

2. The national debt is currently increasing at 4 billion dollars PER DAY, before you even begin paying any bills (Fox News).

3. Just the interest on the National Debt increases by 900 Billion per year (story)!

4. Worker Displacement continues to run rampant in the USA from:

A. NAFTA Offshoring of the manufacturing base.
B. Job Outsourcing.
C. 23 Guest Worker programs.
D. 20 Million Illegal Aliens

5. A 300 percent increase in foreclosures is expected (story).

6. Bankruptcies are increasing (story).

7. Municipal Bond Market Crash of 2011 (story).

Cutting the Federal Budget is never going to solve the Worker Displacement problem that is looking you in the face with 20 million illegal aliens stealing identities and JOBS from real Americans that nobody is doing anything about. The corrupt congress is moving chairs around on the USA Titanic and just waiting for the entire system to collapse under the weight of massive DEBT.

GL,

Terral

 

[waltky]

Hillary says, "Whoa, hold on a minute thar'...

Clinton: Budget Cuts Could Undermine US Influence
March 02, 2011 - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says cutting funding for State Department programs could upset America's strategic interests around the world.

Speaking to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Wednesday, Clinton objected to cuts that would eliminate funding for the Asia Pacific region, where she said the U.S. is in competition with China for energy projects. She said the United States risks losing out as China, in her words, "wines and dines'' Pacific leaders. The committee chairman, Democrat John Kerry, said it is not the time for America to "pull back from the world." He said a proposal to cut in half funding for humanitarian aid could risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world affected by natural disasters.

Republican Senator Bob Corker said the reason the State Department finds itself facing such cuts is because of the government's inability to control spending on much larger domestic programs, such as entitlements. Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a 16 percent cut in funding this year for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Clinton also noted the United States should be doing more to capitalize on its investment in the Western Hemisphere.

She said despite funding Colombia's efforts to fight leftist FARC rebels and combat drug traffickers, the United States has still not been able to complete a free trade agreement with the country. But, she said, America is watching as Colombia signs trade deals with Canada, the European Union and enters negotiations with China. Clinton emphasized the trade relationship the United States has with Latin America, and said with the exception of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, many countries in the region have moved into "an era of sustainable democracy."

Source

 

[MaggieMae]

Hillary says, "Whoa, hold on a minute thar'...

Clinton: Budget Cuts Could Undermine US Influence
March 02, 2011 - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says cutting funding for State Department programs could upset America's strategic interests around the world.

Speaking to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Wednesday, Clinton objected to cuts that would eliminate funding for the Asia Pacific region, where she said the U.S. is in competition with China for energy projects. She said the United States risks losing out as China, in her words, "wines and dines'' Pacific leaders. The committee chairman, Democrat John Kerry, said it is not the time for America to "pull back from the world." He said a proposal to cut in half funding for humanitarian aid could risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world affected by natural disasters.

Republican Senator Bob Corker said the reason the State Department finds itself facing such cuts is because of the government's inability to control spending on much larger domestic programs, such as entitlements. Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a 16 percent cut in funding this year for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Clinton also noted the United States should be doing more to capitalize on its investment in the Western Hemisphere.

She said despite funding Colombia's efforts to fight leftist FARC rebels and combat drug traffickers, the United States has still not been able to complete a free trade agreement with the country. But, she said, America is watching as Colombia signs trade deals with Canada, the European Union and enters negotiations with China. Clinton emphasized the trade relationship the United States has with Latin America, and said with the exception of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, many countries in the region have moved into "an era of sustainable democracy."

Source

She's absolutely correct to be concerned about that particular trade deal, and here's why:

Quoted from THE WEEK, 02/25/11 issue:

China and Columbia are planning to build a railway that would link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans as a "dry canal" rival to the Panama Canal. The two goverments said this week they plan to lay tracks from Cartagena, on Columbia's Caribbean coast, to an unspecified port on the country's Pacific Coast. The railway would facilitate both Columbia's exports of raw materials and China's imports to Latin America. It could also provide an alternative route for Chinese companies that ship through the Panama Canal or transport goods overland from California ports to the U.S. East Coast. "It makes a lot of sense," said Columbian President Juan Manuel Santos. "Asia is the new motor of the world economy."

Proposals for high speed rail just to move people and products faster across our own country are dismissed as being unnecessary. Unfortunately, forward thinking, once the hallmark of America's inspiration, ingenuity and entrepreneurial progress which propelled us to super power status now belongs to China. How long are we prepared to let that happen?

CRS Railway used to have a highly effective TV ad which showed clogged highway truck traffic along side a freight train that was zipping by all that gridlock. A picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[skeptic]

Dry canals make a lot of sense. It isn't inconceivable to build rail transport machinery that could carry entire laden ships 75 miles more efficiently than 35 miles thru a canal. But with containerization being the standard of freight transport building a rail system capable of transporting a laden ship's total cargo is already routine. But it takes quit a while to fully load and unload a cargo ship.

 

[Trajan]

Hillary says, "Whoa, hold on a minute thar'...

Clinton: Budget Cuts Could Undermine US Influence
March 02, 2011 - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says cutting funding for State Department programs could upset America's strategic interests around the world.

Speaking to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Wednesday, Clinton objected to cuts that would eliminate funding for the Asia Pacific region, where she said the U.S. is in competition with China for energy projects. She said the United States risks losing out as China, in her words, "wines and dines'' Pacific leaders. The committee chairman, Democrat John Kerry, said it is not the time for America to "pull back from the world." He said a proposal to cut in half funding for humanitarian aid could risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world affected by natural disasters.

Republican Senator Bob Corker said the reason the State Department finds itself facing such cuts is because of the government's inability to control spending on much larger domestic programs, such as entitlements. Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a 16 percent cut in funding this year for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Clinton also noted the United States should be doing more to capitalize on its investment in the Western Hemisphere.

She said despite funding Colombia's efforts to fight leftist FARC rebels and combat drug traffickers, the United States has still not been able to complete a free trade agreement with the country. But, she said, America is watching as Colombia signs trade deals with Canada, the European Union and enters negotiations with China. Clinton emphasized the trade relationship the United States has with Latin America, and said with the exception of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, many countries in the region have moved into "an era of sustainable democracy."

Source

She's absolutely correct to be concerned about that particular trade deal, and here's why:

Quoted from THE WEEK, 02/25/11 issue:

China and Columbia are planning to build a railway that would link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans as a "dry canal" rival to the Panama Canal. The two goverments said this week they plan to lay tracks from Cartagena, on Columbia's Caribbean coast, to an unspecified port on the country's Pacific Coast. The railway would facilitate both Columbia's exports of raw materials and China's imports to Latin America. It could also provide an alternative route for Chinese companies that ship through the Panama Canal or transport goods overland from California ports to the U.S. East Coast. "It makes a lot of sense," said Columbian President Juan Manuel Santos. "Asia is the new motor of the world economy."

Proposals for high speed rail just to move people and products faster across our own country are dismissed as being unnecessary. Unfortunately, forward thinking, once the hallmark of America's inspiration, ingenuity and entrepreneurial progress which propelled us to super power status now belongs to China. How long are we prepared to let that happen?

CRS Railway used to have a highly effective TV ad which showed clogged highway truck traffic along side a freight train that was zipping by all that gridlock. A picture is worth a thousand words.

well, we should have signed that trade deal years ago, when it was first put on the table same with so. Korea brazil et al. *shrugs*, china via gov. machinations and underwriting is now the dynamic nation that reaches out, we? we are fighting like its the 1930's.

the Oakland SF bay bridge was banged up baldy in the big Earthquake over 10 years ago, we have been fixing it for a decade, some holds ups? waiting for CHINA to finish building the appropriate spans etc. We cannot even manage it right let alone build some of the intricate parts for it.....unreal.

 

[code1211]

We are looking at this all wrong. It's not how much we are cutting, it's how much we have to spend and that aint much. This is the same thing that every responsible person in the country has done every year of their life.

We are and have been spending more than we have been taking in. No complexities here. No mysteries. We need to spend less AND tax more. And that means everyone. There is not an American alive today who should not pay some tax to the Feds.

It's time to pay the piper, folks.

Here it is:

Government Taxes and Revenue Chart in United States 2000-2020 - Federal State Local

Government Spending in United States: Federal State Local 2011 - Charts Tables History

 

[MaggieMae]

Hillary says, "Whoa, hold on a minute thar'...

Clinton: Budget Cuts Could Undermine US Influence
March 02, 2011 - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says cutting funding for State Department programs could upset America's strategic interests around the world.

She's absolutely correct to be concerned about that particular trade deal, and here's why:

Quoted from THE WEEK, 02/25/11 issue:

China and Columbia are planning to build a railway that would link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans as a "dry canal" rival to the Panama Canal. The two goverments said this week they plan to lay tracks from Cartagena, on Columbia's Caribbean coast, to an unspecified port on the country's Pacific Coast. The railway would facilitate both Columbia's exports of raw materials and China's imports to Latin America. It could also provide an alternative route for Chinese companies that ship through the Panama Canal or transport goods overland from California ports to the U.S. East Coast. "It makes a lot of sense," said Columbian President Juan Manuel Santos. "Asia is the new motor of the world economy."

Proposals for high speed rail just to move people and products faster across our own country are dismissed as being unnecessary. Unfortunately, forward thinking, once the hallmark of America's inspiration, ingenuity and entrepreneurial progress which propelled us to super power status now belongs to China. How long are we prepared to let that happen?

CRS Railway used to have a highly effective TV ad which showed clogged highway truck traffic along side a freight train that was zipping by all that gridlock. A picture is worth a thousand words.

well, we should have signed that trade deal years ago, when it was first put on the table same with so. Korea brazil et al. *shrugs*, china via gov. machinations and underwriting is now the dynamic nation that reaches out, we? we are fighting like its the 1930's.

the Oakland SF bay bridge was banged up baldy in the big Earthquake over 10 years ago, we have been fixing it for a decade, some holds ups? waiting for CHINA to finish building the appropriate spans etc. We cannot even manage it right let alone build some of the intricate parts for it.....unreal.

Priorities. I wonder if we'll ever get it right as the 21st Century zooms on by. The Bay Bridge won't get fixed until there's another disaster like the bridge collapse in Minnesota a couple of years ago. Sad.

 

[MaggieMae]

We are looking at this all wrong. It's not how much we are cutting, it's how much we have to spend and that aint much. This is the same thing that every responsible person in the country has done every year of their life.

We are and have been spending more than we have been taking in. No complexities here. No mysteries. We need to spend less AND tax more. And that means everyone. There is not an American alive today who should not pay some tax to the Feds.

It's time to pay the piper, folks.

Here it is:

Government Taxes and Revenue Chart in United States 2000-2020 - Federal State Local

Government Spending in United States: Federal State Local 2011 - Charts Tables History

Thanks for posting those again. I refer to them a lot. There's a wealth of information there.