The Great Oreo Cookie Budget Analysis

[ScreamingEagle]

Ben and Jerry Cohen (of ice cream fame) do a "budget analysis" explained with oreo cookies and they take their demonstration around from city to city on a truck complete with giant cookies to explain it to the public. To get the idea you can watch a flash animation here:

http://ww11.e-tractions.com/truemajority/run/oreo?rd=436

 

[BaronVonBigmeat]

I agree with him that military spending is out of control and we need to close all of our overseas bases, and keep american troops on american soil.

But the rest of it....ugh. Spending money for schools is not a federal issue. Christ, it's not rocket science to teach kids to read. It is a local issue, and as federal control has increased the quality of education has gone way, way down. There is no amount of federal money that can cure our schools, mainly because it's federal and state interference that caused widespread problems in the first place.

Same thing with aid to 3rd world countries--it helps keep bad governments and dictators in power. I know that's not Ben and Jerry's intent, but it's true. I used to have an article bookmarked that quoted an african economist as basically saying, "STOP SENDING AID FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, YOU'RE MAKING IT WORSE".

 

[ScreamingEagle]

I agree with him that military spending is out of control and we need to close all of our overseas bases, and keep american troops on american soil.

But the rest of it....ugh. Spending money for schools is not a federal issue. Christ, it's not rocket science to teach kids to read. It is a local issue, and as federal control has increased the quality of education has gone way, way down. There is no amount of federal money that can cure our schools, mainly because it's federal and state interference that caused widespread problems in the first place.

Same thing with aid to 3rd world countries--it helps keep bad governments and dictators in power. I know that's not Ben and Jerry's intent, but it's true. I used to have an article bookmarked that quoted an african economist as basically saying, "STOP SENDING AID FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, YOU'RE MAKING IT WORSE".

The ice cream boys' cookie analysis is fooling people because they are dealing with only PART of the Federal budget. The cookies they are talking about are found in only the discretionary budget, not the whole Federal budget which includes other federal funds such as social security. They appear to be dealing with only about 50 cookies or so in their display instead of the whole bag.

How many cookies are really in the whole bag of Federal cookies?
The total Federal budget actually is about 2.3 trillion.
(http://www.renewamerica.us/analyses/050327voigt.htm)
They say each cookie represents 10 billion dollars.
2.3 trillion divided by 10 billion (per cookie) equals 230 cookies.

230 COOKIES!!

That's the whole bag of cookies - a lot more than they show in their demonstration. By not including the whole bag it makes it SEEM that most of our federal monies are headed to war when that's just not true. Using their figure of 40 billion earmarked for war, that amounts to only about 17% of the whole budget of 2.3 trillion.

Most of the 2.3 trillion federal budget is being spent on social security, medicare, medicaid, and other non-war programs.

Ben & Jerry are anti-war liberals who wish to spend more on social programs.

 

[Hagbard Celine]

That's the whole bag of cookies - a lot more than they show in their demonstration. By not including the whole bag it makes it SEEM that most of our federal monies are headed to war when that's just not true. Using their figure of 40 billion earmarked for war, that amounts to only about 17% of the whole budget of 2.3 trillion.

I think the simple point is that we spend 400 billion a year on the military but only a small amount on education and other programs that actually help people and improve quality of life.

Ben & Jerry are anti-war liberals who wish to spend more on social programs.

I'd really like you to explain why that is such a bad thing. WWJD?

 

[Annie]

I think the simple point is that we spend 400 billion a year on the military but only a small amount on education and other programs that actually help people and improve quality of life.



I'd really like you to explain why that is such a bad thing. WWJD?

Because the federal government is not good at 'quality of life' social programs. Now they are number 1 at enforcing federal laws to protect citizens in situations like opening segregated schools or dealing with terrorists-abroad or within the US.

 

[Max Power]

I think the simple point is that we spend 400 billion a year on the military but only a small amount on education and other programs that actually help people and improve quality of life.

Actually, what everyone here has failed to mention is that schools are mostly state funded, so we spend a lot more on school than what is showed in that little presentation.

The federal government really shouldn't be funding schools.

 

[ScreamingEagle]

I think the simple point is that we spend 400 billion a year on the military but only a small amount on education and other programs that actually help people and improve quality of life.

I'm afraid you are falling for the liberal lies/twisting of facts. Most government spending on education is sourced at the state and local levels. Roughly, only 8% of education revenues come from the Federal budget. Ben & Jerry are being less than honest in their presentation when they give the impression that most of our "government money" is going for war while implying that things like education are being sorely neglected.

We are actually spending more on education than on the war!
Take a look at this graph which shows that spending on education has steadily increased over the past years. President Bush certainly has been doing his part with the "No child left behind" program. Expenditures for elementary and secondary education is at 537 billion in 2004-5. In cookie talk, that amounts to over 53 cookies! That doesn't even include spending on higher education.

Ben & Jerry can take their cookies and stuff them....oh, they already have...full of

http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget06/nclb/edlite-expanding-promise.html

 

[KarlMarx]

Ben and Jerry ought to stick to their core competancy, ice cream.

True, the government should not be in the education business. Ever since the Department of Education was founded during the Carter Administration, SAT test scores continued their downward spiral.

Funding of public schools would be more effective if the Labor Unions were kicked out of them.

It is next to impossible to fire incompetant teachers, the NEA opposes standardized tests, opposes school voucher programs although they have been shown to be effective, especially in school districts that are made up mostly of minorities, and bilks its members out of billions.

Labor Unions are tax exempt, but in order to be tax exempt, they are supposed to stay out of activities which have nothing to do with their charters, like campaigning for political candidates. However, the Labor Unions, are controlling the Democratic Party (Al Gore was a candidate in 2000 because the labor unions made the choice).

To complete the thought, the government should get out of people's lives in many areas... why? Because the government, like Ben and Jerry's, should stick with its core competencies, e.g. defending the country, public works projects, looking after public health and safety and apprehending and prosecuting criminals.