{"id":684,"date":"2011-05-16T02:29:08","date_gmt":"2011-05-16T06:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/?p=684"},"modified":"2011-05-16T02:39:44","modified_gmt":"2011-05-16T06:39:44","slug":"so-where-can-the-us-government-cut-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/?p=684","title":{"rendered":"So where can the US Government cut spending?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A while ago, I created a “poll question” based on the actual spending by the Federal Government<\/p>\n

Poll<\/a><\/p>\n

Normal “Talk Show” cliches about cutting the Federal budget go something like “We should cut off foreign aid!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Shut down the department of Energy!\u00a0\u00a0 Reduce what we pay Congress! Shut down Amtrak! Shut down the Department of Education!\u00a0 Cut out the waste, fraud and abuse!… but INCREASE spending on the military – the only thing the government does well!<\/p>\n

Or more generally, keep everything than helps me, stop doing everything that helps someone else, and find someone else to pay for it all.<\/p>\n

I’ll see if I can create a table for the 2011-2012 budget<\/a> and let people play “Cut $1,000 billion in spending from this budget” and see what an impossible a task it is to do and think through the first wave of reactions if you do.\u00a0\u00a0 This took a hundred years to build – it won’t be undone in a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Program<\/th>Department<\/th>Amount ($b)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Peace Time Military<\/td>Defense<\/td>553<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
War Spending<\/td>Defense<\/td>117<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Discretionay<\/td>Agriculture<\/td>27<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Food & Nutrition
\r\n(WIC, Food Stamps, School Lunches)<\/td>		Agriculture<\/td>99<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Crop Insurance<\/td>Agriculture<\/td>3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Census
\r\n(Was $6B for 2010)<\/td>		Commerce<\/td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NOAA<\/td>Commerce<\/td>5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
National Institute of Standards and Technology<\/td>Commerce<\/td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wireless and DTV iniriatives<\/td>Commerce<\/td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Intelligence
\r\n(CIA, NSA, etc.)<\/td>		National Intelligence<\/td>Classified<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Primary & Secondard schools<\/td>Education<\/td>22<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Title 1 Special Ed grants to states<\/td>Education<\/td>13<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pell Grants<\/td>Education<\/td>36<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vocational Rehab State Grants<\/td>Education<\/td>3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nuclear Safety<\/td>Energy<\/td>11<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Energy Research<\/td>Energy<\/td>5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Environmental Management<\/td>Energy<\/td>6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Home Energy Rebates<\/td>Energy<\/td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FDA<\/td>HHS<\/td>3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Center for Disease Control<\/td>HHS<\/td>6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Indian Health Programs<\/td>HHS<\/td>6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Health Services (HRSAH<\/td>HHS<\/td>7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Medicare
\r\n(eldery, disabled)<\/td>		HHS<\/td>485<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Medicaid
\r\n(Poor)<\/td>		HHS<\/td>279<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Other Health<\/td>HHS<\/td>112<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Customs<\/td>Homeland Security<\/td>10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
TSA<\/td>Homeland Security<\/td>5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Coast Guard<\/td>Homeland Security<\/td>9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Federal Emergency Mgmt (FEMA)<\/td>Homeland Security<\/td>7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Secret Service<\/td>Homeland Security<\/td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Other DHS<\/td>Homeland Security<\/td>10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Immigration (INS)<\/td>Homeland Security<\/td>3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Community Development<\/td>Housing (HUD)<\/td>4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Homeless programs<\/td>HUD<\/td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Section 8 Housing<\/td>HUD<\/td>19<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Public Housing Projects<\/td>HUD<\/td>16<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Land Management<\/td>Interior<\/td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Land Reclamation<\/td>Interior<\/td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
USGS
\r\n(Earthquake, Tsunami, Mapping, etc...)<\/td>		Interior<\/td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fish and Wildlife<\/td>Interior<\/td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
National Parks<\/td>Interior<\/td>3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Indian Affairs<\/td>Interior<\/td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FBI<\/td>Justice<\/td>8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Drug Enforcement
\r\n(DEA)<\/td>		Justice<\/td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Federal Prisons<\/td>Jusice<\/td>7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
US Marshalls<\/td>Justice<\/td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
BATF
\r\n(Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms)<\/td>		Justice<\/td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
US Attorneys<\/td>Justice<\/td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Community Policing, Violence against Women<\/td>Justice<\/td>3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Justice actions<\/td>Justice<\/td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Unemployment Insurance<\/td>Labor<\/td>93<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Unemployment Admin<\/td>Labor<\/td>3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Training & Employment<\/td>Labor<\/td>3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Job Corps<\/td>Labor<\/td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Labor Statistics<\/td>Labor<\/td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Other Labor
\r\n(OSHA, Mine Safety, Wage & Hour)<\/td>		Labor<\/td>3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
State Dept<\/td>State<\/td>10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Agency for International Development (USAID)<\/td>State<\/td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UN & Peacekeeping<\/td>State<\/td>4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Economic SupportJ
\r\n(Foreign Aid)<\/td>		State<\/td>6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Refugee assistance<\/td>State<\/td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Foreign Military Assistance
\r\n(Middle East, Pakistan, etc...)<\/td>		State<\/td>6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Food for Peace<\/td>State \/ USDA<\/td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Global Health
\r\n(AIDS in Africa, etc...)<\/td>		State<\/td>9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Development Assistance<\/td>State<\/td>3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Millenium Challenge<\/td>State<\/td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Treasury International Pgm<\/td>State<\/td>3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Peace Corp<\/td>State<\/td>0.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
VOA, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty<\/td>State<\/td>0.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Airports (FAA)<\/td>Transportation<\/td>0.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Highways (FHA)<\/td>Transportation<\/td>44<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Traffic Safety (NHTSA)<\/td>Transportation<\/td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Railroads (FRA)<\/td>Transportation<\/td>3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Public Transit (FTA)<\/td>Transportation<\/td>13<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
TARP<\/td>Treasury<\/td>13<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
GSE (bailouts)<\/td>Treasury<\/td>$<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
IRS<\/td>Treasury<\/td>$13<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tax Expenditure Outlays
\r\n(?)<\/td>		Treasury<\/td>81<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Veterans Pensions<\/td>Veteran Affairs<\/td>53<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
VA tuition assistance<\/td>Veterans affairs<\/td>10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Veterans Hospitals<\/td>Veteran affairs<\/td>53<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
VA Admin<\/td>Veteran affairs<\/td>3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Army Corps of Engineers<\/td>Corps of Engineers<\/td>8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Environment<\/td>EPA<\/td>10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Space Exploration<\/td>NASA<\/td>18<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Science Research<\/td>National Science Foundation<\/td>8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Small Business<\/td>SBA<\/td>$1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Old Age Pensions<\/td>Social Security<\/td>860<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SSI
\r\n(Pensions for poor people and the disabled)<\/td>		Social Security<\/td>47<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Other Social Security<\/td>Social Security<\/td>55<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Americorps Corp<\/td>Community Service<\/td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Interest on the debt
\r\n(Non Government)<\/td>		Treasury<\/td>240<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Interest on the Debt
\r\n(Trust Funds)<\/td>		Treasury<\/td>189<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td><\/td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A while ago, I created a “poll question” based on the actual spending by the Federal Government Poll Normal “Talk Show” cliches about cutting the Federal budget go something like “We should cut off foreign aid!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Shut down the department … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,84],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-politics","category-tax-policy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=684"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":686,"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684\/revisions\/686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}