Budget Bullsh*t

In the few weeks of hiatus that kind of just happened because I couldn't get around to writing (or much of anything, it turns out), I've been following the budget battle.  I had previously voiced some concern that the GOP was coming up short on their intended promises.  I had also cited a proposal by Rand Paul that cut half a trillion as a good first step.

Well, after watching the battle and trying to figure out what is happening in DC, I think the best thing that could happen now is a meteor coming down and blowing the entire congress straight to hell.  I'm that sick of the joke that is the current budget "cutting" battle.

(disclaimer: that's death by act of God, not assassination.  Nothing will be solved by trying to kill our elected representatives.)

First, let me get the bitching about Democrats and liberals reacting to the "immoral" "drastic" "cuts" that the Republicans are proposing.  A specific example is this list that MoveOn(left).org shot out, whining how it was going to cut [government] jobs and throw veterans on the street and shit.  I've also heard the old arguments about how Republicans want dirty air and water.

Anyone who is saying this with a straight face is a fucking whiny moron.  We could fund everything and still cut the budget if we just seriously trimmed where money was being downright wasted and services were duplicated.  The GOP budget may cut some specifics (like the profitable Planned Parenthood subsidies), but when the Democrats are coming up with a paltry $6 billion in cuts (when the deficit is in the TRILLIONS), I can't take this whining seriously.

Now as for the GOP, they can't even get a set of cuts that are over the $100 billion mark.  Again, we're looking at TRILLIONS in debt, so we're easily in cuts under 10% of our deficit.  And this is before they start negotiating.  If you're going to cut shit, really cut shit.  That way, when you negotiate a middle ground, you might take an actual chunk out of the budget, rather than having to negotiate down to something akin to a 1% cut in the current budget year (my prediction).

And BOTH parties need to knock off the fuzzy math shit.  Cutting the amount Obama was planning to increase the budget does not equal actuall cutting a budget.  This is baseline budgeting bullshit.  That's where you budget a 6% increase, decide to only increase 2% and call that a 4% cut.  That's not a cut. That's bullshit.  And both parties are using it to claim they are budget cutters, even though the most lofty budget numbers never reach even a 10% cut.

Is this what the Tea Party intended to elect? 

I think a big ol' "No Fucking Way!!!!!!!11!!!!1!!" would be appropriate. 

The fact is that right now, both parties (with a few exceptions) are covering their assess with the usual rhetoric, cutting only where it won't hurt their chances for reelection and trying to secure as much of the pie for their own use as possible (thus the desire above to see DC reduced to a crater with their entrails lining it). 

The only option we have right now is to get serious about cutting things.  That means cutting programs, all welfare (both corporate and personal), and even a few departments (like the useless Departmentt of Education).  That also means cutting budgets for EVERYTHING ELSE. 

For those who want to bring up a whiny "Whaaat abooouuut (x)?  You don't want to cut that to please your (y) masters, do you?", all I can say is yes, I'm in favor of cutting the budget there.  And don't sound so whiny.

The fact is that even in functions of the government that must be funded (defense, for example), we can find assloads of waste that could be cut even while fully funding new weapons and technologies.  And half the things that the feds are doing really need to be moved to the state level, or even more locally.  That includes welfare programs and education. 

We're not about to grow out of this debt, which we have, thanks to spendthrift idiots on both sides of the aisle over the last decade, exploded from a manageable little problem caused by the obsessive progressive expansion of all levels of government over the past 100 years to an out-out-of-control situation that makes the mess in Greece look like a chump change situation.  We could OWN that country with the amount of money we've racked up in debt.

Consider that George W Bush and the GOP racked up record deficits in his first 6 years.  Then the Democrats took over Congress, and those deficits got worse.  Then Obama took over and those numbers quadrupled. 

So here's the challenge: What shouldn't we cut, and why?  Because everybody can point out something that should be cut.  I dare you to defend your sacred cow right now.  I have steak on the menu.