Posted on 10/28/2010 7:40:29 AM PDT by WebFocus
If Republicans want to keep power, they are going to have to show the courage to make some very, very tough decisions.
Although the polls are still in flux, it looks increasingly likely that Republicans will win a big victory next Tuesday. But that doesn’t mean that Americans have fallen in love with them.
In fact, even as voters prepare to put Republicans in charge of the House and possibly even the Senate, polls show the Republican party to be only slightly more popular than used-car salesmen. A recent Pew poll showed that only 24 percent of voters approve of Republicans in Congress.
Therefore, if this election is going to be the start of a long-term trend and not a one-time blip, the new Republican-dominated Congress is going to have to deliver. In particular, Republicans are going to have to follow through on their promises to reduce government spending and the deficit. Nothing was more central to Republican campaigns this year, and it was a critical issue to the economically conservative, socially moderate suburban voters who backed Democrats in 2006 and 2008 but switched to Republicans this year. But promises of balanced budgets may prove much easier than actual budget cutting.
Of course, the Pledge to America calls for returning some discretionary spending to 2008 levels. But by 2008, spending was already out of control. Moreover, the pledge does not specify exactly which programs Republicans plan to cut. Unfortunately, budgets have to be balanced on specifics, not generalities.
To show just how tough balancing the budget will be, consider an analysis by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation of the budgetary proposals of four Republican candidates: Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania, Carly Fiorina in California, Marco Rubio in Florida, and Mark Kirk in Illinois. Most of their calls for spending cuts (or increases) were too vague to be fully costed out. But once the budget proposals that could be assigned a price tag were added up, Fiorina was the champion cost cutter, calling for a net reduction in government spending of $155 billion. Rubio was close behind with $153 billion. Most of Pat Toomey’s proposals could not be scored, but the cuts that could netted just $2.5 billion in savings. And Mark Kirk would actually increase spending by $734 million.
To be sure, this is a lot better than their opponents. Toomey’s opponent, Joe Sestak, for example, has proposed spending increases of more than $100 billion. But in the face of a $3.55 trillion federal budget and a $1.3 trillion deficit, it’s going to take much bigger cuts than have so far been proposed.
During an election campaign, it is perhaps understandable if candidates avoid specifics when talking budget cuts. After all, every program has a constituency that would be alienated by proposals to cut it. But when Republicans turn from campaigning to governing, they are going to have to make cuts that will offend powerful voter groups. Cuts of the size necessary to balance the budget are going to hurt — simply cutting the usual “waste, fraud, and abuse” isn’t going to get there.
For example, no serious budget cutting can take place without addressing entitlements. Some Republican candidates, including Toomey, Rubio, Ron Johnson in Wisconsin, Joe Miller in Alaska, Rand Paul in Kentucky, and Sharron Angle in Nevada, have shown a willingness to consider some creative ideas for entitlement reform. But the Republican leadership in Washington has not been as brave. The Pledge to America exempts programs for the elderly from the proposed cuts, and congressional Republicans spent much of the debate over health-care reform posing as defenders of the elderly from Medicare cuts. They are going to have to do a lot better than that.
The Pledge also keeps defense spending away from the budget knife. But if Republicans are really serious about balancing the budget, the defense budget is going to have to be on the table. Defense now accounts for nearly 23 percent of all federal spending and more than half of all discretionary spending. The Pentagon should be subject to the same scrutiny as any other government agency. This will require a thorough review of America’s commitments around the world. Slashing spending while continuing our current policies risks leaving our troops stretched far too thin or without the equipment they need. But at a time of massive debt, should we not be asking whether the U.S. really needs to keep troops deployed in 135 countries? Can we afford to fight two wars indefinitely? Shouldn’t countries such as Japan, Germany, and South Korea be asked to pick up more of the cost of their own defense?
If Republicans win this election, it will be because voters recoiled from the big-government, big-spending, big-deficit policies of the Obama administration and congressional Democrats. That was enough for Republicans to gain power this year. If they want to keep it, they are going to have to show the courage to make some very, very tough decisions.
— Michael Tanner is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and author of Leviathan on the Right: How Big-Government Conservatism Brought Down the Republican Revolution.
I already know that, and I HAVE known it for many years. I have been preparing for it as best I can. But the cuts ARE necessary for the survival of our country; and the longer we wait, the worse the 'hurt' is going to be.
Cuts will hurt? Not at all. I’m one of those people Obama hates, I’m white, middle class, and get no assistance from the government.
Cut away!
The EPA and Endangered species act are prime examples of things that have to be drastically curtailed or completely done away with!There is no end to what liberals will sacrifice for a damn fish or insect!!
Band-aid. We have had too many band-aid solutions over the
years and nothing has gotten better. Time to rip all of
the band-aids off. Do it quick. Sure it’s gonna hurt,
but the real healing will begin, post-haste.
That's funny....I agree, cut away.
How bout starting at the Depts of Internal Revenue, Education, Energy, Commerce...
There is plenty to cut. Fact is, if O-bozo and all his crew at the federal reserve keep pumping out monopoly money, we are never going to get a handle on this.
Cuts, cuts!!! Well that is going to cause a lot of rebellion. But we can accomplish a lot by simply following one of the tactics of the left...change the definitions.
But our biggest obstacle right now is we don’t have people in place within the bureaucracies.
The elected leaders will be in place, but they have abrogated so much authority to the agencies we will accomplish very little. An example is leaving it up to the EPA to define their own rules? That essentially gave them the ability to make their own laws without ever a glimpse or debate in congress. This is true throughout government and their agencies.
RE: The EPA and Endangered species act are prime examples of things that have to be drastically curtailed or completely done away with!
Actually the first thing we need to do is ELIMINATE the US Department of Education and return the money to the states and let them decide how to educate their kids.
Jimmy Carter created this bloated department in 1979 and all it has done is create a huge bureaucracy that wastes money and does nothing to improve education.
Our country’s educational system was the best in the world long before this bloated federal department came into existence.
30 years after this department was born, everything has gone DOWNHILL from there and their solution is to continue throwing money at it.
Let’s eliminate it and save taxpayers the money. All it has done is prove that government does nothing but waste our money and subsidizes a lot of useless, politically correct ideas that do more harm than good.
2010 - unemployment rate = ~10%
2012 - unemployment rate = ~ 12%-15%
2012 - Obama re-elected in a landslide... unless of course the private sector is poised to hire all the laid off Gov workers.
Just a potential Halloween nightmare. ;-)
I’m not sure if it is possible to fire all of government and start over.
I think it will come in the form of the states rallying around the 10th amendment.
The fed will then play it’s hand and send in forces.
If that happens, it will be painful, but We the People
will have a shot of restoring this country to it’s rightful
place at the top. If this happens, we will not realize the
fruit of it, but our kids will. And their kids will.
That, for me, is motivation enough.
I have no problem with anything you said. Of course you can just hear the screams from the dims...I don’t think at this time the republicans have the cajones to do it!
The Republicans should use psychology and American ingenuity to obtain cuts from within the bureacracy.
Everyone knows that government bureacracies spend any unexpended money at the end of the year to avoid cutbacks in their future budget.
Republicans should offer ‘profit sharing’ bonus to all employees of all departments of government who can reduce costs during the budget year and produce a surplus in their budget by the end of the year.
For example, a 5% surplus (eg, unexpended funds due to better management and elimination of waste) would give the employees of a department a bonus of 2.5% of the savings.
Budget for the next fiscal year would be based on the net actual expenditures of the previous year plus an allowance for inflation.
After that, pass a similar cut in federal employees, including Defense (but non-combat personnel).
Set the stage with these, then get to work on entitlements. Freeze benefits through the 2012 election cycle and increase FICA by 0.5% or something. Again, just get people used to the idea that things are going away. Have the 2012 presidential candidates then run on what their plans for continuing the trend are.
Just cut everything not authorized in the constitution.
Some items may require a gradual transition to ween people off the government teat.
Other expenditures, like foreign aid, subsidies to agriculture, handouts to unions, colleges, think tanks, political groups like ACORN, etc, can be cut immediately.
I beg the Republicans to save themselves by distinguishing between cuts. Not all cuts are the same.
They can get major savings from some types of cuts, with some political repercussion, but not an intolerable amount. And it will be remembered that they did the right thing, and it was for the benefit of us all.
However, there are minor savings they *could* get from other types of cuts, that could get them savaged, politically. These are not worth it, and it might even be to their benefit if they considered small *increases* to these, even while cutting the rest.
In the former case, look at Social Security. Not too long ago, it was proposed that “means testing” be used for recipients, which raised a hostile outcry, so was discarded. I agree, because it was too direct.
Instead, they could turn this into a virtue. Instead of renewing the Bush tax cuts, tell SS recipients that have other income or money, that instead of taking the SS money due them, they can *instead* get a tax deduction slightly *larger* than the money they were due.
They will actually get a little more money this way, while leaving more money in the SS system for others, those who don’t have other income or savings. As such, this will do a LOT to restore the SS system to solvency.
At the same time, they should shut down the “front door” of SS, for everyone but its original intended members, minimum wage workers with no other source of income. For everybody else entering the work force, they are no longer part of the SS system.
This is a positively *friendly* way to get SS back into order, and will hardly register in making enemies. High return, low punishment.
Alternatively, the type of cut the Republicans should not, under any circumstance, make, because it is both irrational and will get them severely punished, is food stamps.
To start with, America is awash with food. If the Republicans can set back that dumbass waste of corn, converting it into ethanol, we will easily be back to wasting hundreds of tons of food every year.
Oddly enough, by giving that food away before it rots, actually *saves* money, because otherwise it has to be expensively warehoused. And it doesn’t hurt retailers, because surplus food has minimal processing. People who can afford their food prefer processed food.
But if the Republicans do something dumb, and cut back on food stamps, they will make enemies for generations. They will convert entire families to support the Democrats. And it won’t save a dime.
If anything, the Republicans should be the “Cornucopia” party for the unemployed and hungry. Every food bank in the US should be bulging at the seams with free government surplus food, with a multicolored elephant stamped on it.
An incredibly cheap way to get future generations of people voting for Republicans.
Or conversely, just roll back the budget, cutting the last item and so on until the budget is balanced.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the cuts. Neither party has truly cut spending in over 50 years. I doubt they will now.
I’m not worried about them.
I would welcome them.
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