Obama issued a budget that is only balanced if you don't include the interest on our debt. Even he agrees that more cuts are needed and that he will need more ideas. Unfortunately the 'ideas' he is getting are the same things Republicans always go after. I'll look at what terms Obama should include whe- if- he caves into their demands.
Department of Education $69.9 Billion
Any cuts from the DoE should be cut by poverty levels. The richer the school district the faster they feel the cuts. Not only are they more likely to be able to afford to go to private school but they are more likely to have other social advantages that would compensate for what they are losing in education. If anything.
I'll get more into how we can save money and raise effectiveness in education on a later date.
PellGrants $35 Billion
Would college tuition cost so much if it wasn't for Pellgrants and government loans? Let's look into this I'm beginning to wonder if these programs have become a disservice.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting $430 million
I enjoy listening to NPR but I don't like that they have the same kind of investment in the status quo as other media outlets because they also take corporate money. I would gladly trade CPB for better net neutrality laws.
EPA
Tell the Republicans they can cut the EPA budget but the EPA can recoop their losses by keeping a portion of their fines for Clean Water Act violations (and otherwise doing their job). You know what bureaucrats like? Money for their bureaucracy. You know what polluters don't like? An EPA with a budgetary incentive to enforce the law.
Here are a couple Departments I think they should cut from
DEA $2 Billion
Our former drug user President should cut this budget down to nothing.
Oil Welfare $15-$35 Billion
Has the market spoken on alternative energy? Or is our tax money fixing the game? Let's find out by cutting their funding. There are enough oil companies that competition should keep prices down and if it doesn't the Justice Department should investigate them for price fixing.
Mirror Tariff
We should tax China to import their goods at the same rate tax us to import our stuff into their country. Higher if they insist on fixing their currency.
"The richer the school district the faster they feel the cuts."
ReplyDeleteHang on, hang on. I go to a pretty rich school district (Loudoun County, VA), but because of our budget, the schools can't pay their teachers. It's pretty ridiculous. In an area where most people make a lot of money, our teachers are comparatively very poor. This leads to absolutely no competition for teaching jobs, which leads to a shitty education on my part. Maybe suggest that teacher pay must remain equal to or higher than current levels if cuts are made?
That just sounds like mismanagement. It doesn't matter how much money your school district has they'll find a way to mismanage it if that is the case.
ReplyDeleteBut the point of the blog is that Republicans keep making demands and Democrats don't seem to know how to beat them at their own game.