What to cut (and how)?

[RetiredGySgt]

I think everything should be cut, no sacred cows.

Don't be afraid to get specific about how you want to do that. For example, if we're cutting Social Security, does that mean cutting benefits (in a progressive manner or across the board?), raising the retirement age, altering the way benefits are indexed or adjusting the formula for calculating benefits, all of the above, etc? And does "everything" really mean everything (veterans' benefits, missile defense, etc)?

I got plenty specific about it....Just junk 'em.

You can't polish turds.

Defense is ACTUALLY cited in the Constitution as a REQUIREMENT of the Government. Care to cite for me the source of all the Social programs we pay for? This is for both of you.

 

[Oddball]

Maintaining military bases an Germany, Japan, Korea, Great Britain, the Balkans, Panama, Haiti, ad infinitum does little to nothing to provide for national security.

Time to bring those troops home to protect our own borders and seas.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Maintaining military bases an Germany, Japan, Korea, Great Britain, the Balkans, Panama, Haiti, ad infinitum does little to nothing to provide for national security.

Time to bring those troops home to protect our own borders and seas.

Modern world requires trading partners. Defense of Nation INCLUDES allies. We are not self sufficient. Unless you want to go back to a smaller population with horse drawn power.

 

[rdean]

Why cut social security? People already paid for it.

Oh, wait.

That's right.

Bush and the Republicans gave it away as a "gift" to the rich in the form of a 2.4 trillion dollar tax cut.

Nevermind.

 

[Oddball]

Maintaining military bases an Germany, Japan, Korea, Great Britain, the Balkans, Panama, Haiti, ad infinitum does little to nothing to provide for national security.

Time to bring those troops home to protect our own borders and seas.

Modern world requires trading partners. Defense of Nation INCLUDES allies. We are not self sufficient. Unless you want to go back to a smaller population with horse drawn power.

You platitude and non sequitur almost as well as any librul, up to and including the Boyking.

 

[ekrem]

Maintaining military bases an Germany, Japan, Korea, Great Britain, the Balkans, Panama, Haiti, ad infinitum does little to nothing to provide for national security.

Time to bring those troops home to protect our own borders and seas.

USA will not back-pedal by itself on defence spending and its global military involvement.
The status of grandeur is too appealing for that to give up. The USA will try to keep the gap in military spending to the world, whilst major emerging powers will year after year spend more money on defence and put additional stress to US megalomaniacs wanting to keep the same military supremacy over the world they grew up with.
The US controls world seas, in the next years ahead China will make serious attempts to secure its surrounding seas for itself to project its hegemony also to non-continental Asian countries - and even beyond that. The USA will counterbalance for sure, but in the long run, China is only containable through alliance efforts, classical workshare. The problem is, that such an alliance (NATO) has no real benefit in containing China else then the USA upholding its status of grandeur. All have massive economical interests with China.

The USA has some regional allies like Japan, South-Korea, Thailand etc. in helping to contain China. But for that to work, the USA has to raise its support for these countries substantially. Probably re-route "aid" and "privileges" (acces to top-notch tech, building it for them for free or giving existing euqipment to them whilst USA replaces equipment with new orders) away from countries currently benefitiing from these privileges. How you gonna make that tasty for AIPAC and your congress-men?
The more China grows and with it smaller emerging powers, the USA faces serious risk of over-stretching.
My perception of the US psyche is, that they will go full over-stretching in financial collapse.
Grandeur is no god-given privilege. It's just a snap-shot of specific global developments that lead to a is-condition. These conditions already have changed.

 

[ekrem]

China to Launch New Space Station in 2011
FOXNews.com - China to Launch New Space Station in 2011

2017 they will have manned flight to Moon. It's a big Dragon awakening.
The threat by it for USA type of world system far exceeds the Soviet Empire.
They will grow, grow, grow.
Overgrow the USA.
Grow, grow, grow.

 

[Luissa]

I reached my goal without checking all the green boxes.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

I reached my goal without checking all the green boxes.

How did you get past the black box that required you to either facebook or twitter?

 

[Luissa]

I reached my goal without checking all the green boxes.

How did you get past the black box that required you to either facebook or twitter?

Grow up!

 

[RetiredGySgt]

I reached my goal without checking all the green boxes.

How did you get past the black box that required you to either facebook or twitter?

Grow up!

I am serious. When I tried to use the sim it placed a black box over the change pages and told me to either twitter or facebook people. I have neither.

 

[Luissa]

How did you get past the black box that required you to either facebook or twitter?

Grow up!

I am serious. When I tried to use the sim it placed a black box over the change pages and told me to either twitter or facebook people. I have neither.

Oh! Sorry!

Let me sign out of my facebook, and I will try again.

 

[Luissa]

I don't know why it is doing that. You have to push next at the top middle right.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

I got it to 49 percent. Most of the cuts were in spending. I also agreed to sell Government property and increase user fees.

The following areas had cuts.

Domestic

Social Security

Health Care

other Spending

Revenues

Tax expenditures.

Of course no Congress would EVER make those cuts.

 

[IndependentBear]

Start with the Department of Energy and the Department of Education, both established under Jimmy Carter, and the Department of Homeland Security, which George W. Bush gave us. Next: cut the $900 billion in entitlements by half or more. That's at least $1 trillion right out of the chute.