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Death to Deficits By "A Thousand Cuts"

From CNN Money. It would take a thousand budget cuts to do away with the deficit.

"...to hit the target through spending cuts alone, Congress would have to enact a:

* 75% cut in direct agriculture subsidies;
* 40% cut in federal funding for roads and bridges;
* 30% cut for conservation-related agencies such as the Forest Service;
* 50% cut in federal aid to D.C. and to rural telecommunications services to rural areas;
* 12.5% reduction in defense spending;
* and the elimination or reduction of more than 15 tax breaks, which many experts say amount to spending.

If spending cuts only account for one-third of the solution, lawmakers would "just" need to come up with $85 billion in 2015."

...

"Their $85 billion proposal would rely most heavily on cuts in defense spending and tax breaks. But it would also cut agricultural subsidies in half and reduce federal employee and military pensions. It would also trim spending on the federal highway and aviation agencies as well as on "energy supply" projects, that among other things, support fossil fuels and nuclear energy research.

The report's proposals are not recommendations, but the report's authors did make some value judgments about cuts that could be made while not sacrificing economic growth, hurting the vulnerable or compromising national security."

What budget cuts would YOU make? Go here and make your own federal budget cuts.

Posted by Cute at 5:19 PM

Labels: economy, politics