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Certain Prediction for 2012
Townhall.com ^ | December 27, 2011 | Cal Thomas

Posted on 12/27/2011 5:56:53 AM PST by Kaslin

According to the Mayan "long count" calendar, the final day on Earth is less than a year away, on Dec. 21, 2012.???

While we wait to see if that apocalypse occurs, a more reliable prediction includes an end of a different sort. The economic stimulus pipeline from Washington to the states is about to run dry. This means many governors can be expected to ask their legislatures, or voters, to raise taxes for "essential" programs. To government, all programs are "essential."

According to the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), Washington state is planning to put a tax-increase proposal on its ballot in March, while California voters are likely to vote in November on raising taxes. California is a certifiably insolvent state. It is in deep debt because Democratic politicians won't stop spending, not because taxpayers aren't paying their "fair share."???

We are hearing -- or will soon hear -- that state governments have cut spending to the bone and disaster will occur if more is cut. It's never true, but fear has always worked to squeeze more money out of the people who earn it.???

True, Medicaid continues to be the main driver behind state spending, but that's a reason for fixing what ails Medicaid, not pouring more money into it.???

Consider construction projects, which are snarling traffic around the country. According to a study by 22 Gannett newspapers, published earlier this month in USA Today, "The federal government spends $40 billion a year on highway construction but does not track how many projects are over budget, how much goes toward overruns or whether the record is getting better or worse. The result is a patchwork pattern of planning lapses and design errors that sends some states back for more money again and again ..."???

In Connecticut, what critics call the "busway boondoggle" finds Gov. Dan Malloy, a Democrat, doubling down on a half-billion-dollar project to create bus service between Hartford and New Britain. Republican state Sen. Joe Markley notes buses between the suburbs and Hartford are "a lonely ride" and adds, "I don't believe there is overwhelming need for more buses when the ones we have aren't being used." What a novel thought.???

It's that way in many states as politicians spend federal money on wasteful and unnecessary projects and when the money runs out claim granny will be thrown off a cliff if state taxpayers don't pony up for "essential" programs.???

Here's one I'll bet you didn't know. Last week, the local news in Washington, D.C., showed pictures of a major water-main break in suburban Maryland. It seems to happen a lot, not only in the Washington area but, according to NTU, hundreds of times each year around the country. NTU estimates the breaks cost taxpayers $3 billion annually, not counting costs associated with traffic tie-ups, emergency equipment, lost time and depleted water supplies.???

What could be done to save money when it comes to broken water mains? Corrosion is the main cause of the breaks due to old metallic pipes. NTU estimates the broken pipes are a $50.7 billion drain on the economy, not including the cost from lost water due to leaking or broken pipes.???

Utilities have generally replaced old corroded pipes with new ones made of the same or similar materials, which also corrode. Other non-corrosive options are available, and NTU estimates they could save between 30 percent and 70 percent on capital improvement plans. Since localities spent $103 billion on water supply and sewerage programs in 2009, that's a lot of savings. Read all about it at ntu.org.???

All governments should be regularly audited by outside auditors. Their sole interest should be saving taxpayers money. Any program or agency that wastes money ought to be updated or eliminated. If taxpayers don't force big government at the state and federal levels to go on a diet, the bloating will only continue to the detriment of our economic health.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: 2012; doom; taxes

1 posted on 12/27/2011 5:56:55 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

These are all the programs that the new Republican House has proposed cutting.Save money by starting to cut programs.

* Corporation for Public Broadcasting Subsidy — $445 million annual savings.
* Save America ‘s Treasures Program — $25 million annual savings.
* International Fund for Ireland — $17 million annual savings.
* Legal Services Corporation — $420 million annual savings.
* National Endowment for the Arts — $167.5 million annual savings.
* National Endowment for the Humanities — $167.5 million annual savings.
* Hope VI Program — $250 million annual savings.
* Amtrak Subsidies — $1.565 billion annual savings.
* Eliminate duplicative education programs — H.R. 2274 (in last Congress), authored by Rep. McKeon, eliminates 68 at a savings of $1.3 billion annually.
* U.S. Trade Development Agency — $55 million annual savings.
* Woodrow Wilson Center Subsidy — $20 million annual savings.
* Cut in half funding for congressional printing and binding — $47 million annual savings.
* John C. Stennis Center Subsidy — $430,000 annual savings.
* Community Development Fund — $4.5 billion annual savings.
* Heritage Area Grants and Statutory Aid — $24 million annual savings.
* Cut Federal Travel Budget in Half — $7.5 billion annual savings
* Trim Federal Vehicle Budget by 20% — $600 million annual savings.
* Essential Air Service — $150 million annual savings.
* Technology Innovation Program — $70 million annual savings.
* Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program — $125 million annual savings.
* Department of Energy Grants to States for Weatherization — $530 million annual savings.
* Beach Replenishment — $95 million annual savings.
* New Starts Transit — $2 billion annual savings.
* Exchange Programs for Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Their Historical Trading Partners in Massachusetts — $9 million annual savings
* Intercity and High Speed Rail Grants — $2.5 billion annual savings.
* Title X Family Planning — $318 million annual savings.
* Appalachian Regional Commission — $76 million annual savings.
* Economic Development Administration — $293 million annual savings.
* Programs under the National and Community Services Act — $1.15 billion annual savings.
* Applied Research at Department of Energy — $1.27 billion annual savings.
* Freedom CAR and Fuel Partnership — $200 million annual savings.
* Energy Star Program — $52 million annual savings.
* Economic Assistance to Egypt — $250 million annually.
* U.S. Agency for International Development — $1.39 billion annual savings.
* General Assistance to District of Columbia — $210 million annual savings.
* Subsidy for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority — $150 million annual savings.
* Presidential Campaign Fund — $775 million savings over ten years.
* No funding for federal office space acquisition — $864 million annual savings.
* End prohibitions on competitive sourcing of government services.
* Repeal the Davis-Bacon Act — More than $1 billion annually.
* IRS Direct Deposit: Require the IRS to deposit fees for some services it offers (such as processing payment plans for taxpayers) to the Treasury, instead of allowing it to remain as part of its budget — $1.8 billion savings over ten years.
* Require collection of unpaid taxes by federal employees — $1 billion total savings. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS ABOUT?
* Prohibit taxpayer funded union activities by federal employees — $1.2 billion savings over ten years.
* Sell excess federal properties the government does not make use of — $15 billion total savings.
* Eliminate death gratuity for Members of Congress. WHAT???
* Eliminate Mohair Subsidies — $1 million annual savings.
* Eliminate taxpayer subsidies to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — $12.5 million annual savings WELL ISN’T THAT SPECIAL
* Eliminate Market Access Program — $200 million annual savings.
* USDA Sugar Program — $14 million annual savings.
* Subsidy to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) — $93 million annual savings.
* Eliminate the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program — $56.2 million annual savings.
* Eliminate fund for Obamacare administrative costs — $900 million savings.
* Ready to Learn TV Program — $27 million savings.. WHY?????
* HUD Ph.D. Program.
* Deficit Reduction Check-Off Act.
* How about foreign aid to countries which continuously are voting against us and are fighting us. You just can’t buy love?
* TOTAL SAVINGS: $2.5 Trillion over Ten Years

My question is, what is all this doing in the budget in the first place?


2 posted on 12/27/2011 6:06:19 AM PST by saintgermaine
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To: Kaslin

Add in prevailing wage legislation and union make work materials rules and you’d see construction costs drop by 50-60% for public works projects.


3 posted on 12/27/2011 6:08:18 AM PST by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: Kaslin

What’s with all the ‘???’ ?


4 posted on 12/27/2011 6:27:56 AM PST by pgkdan ("Make what Americans buy, Buy what Americans make, and sell it to the world" Perry 2012)
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To: Kaslin

5 posted on 12/27/2011 6:44:06 AM PST by B.O. Plenty (Elections have consequences....)
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To: Kaslin

When you stop feeding the bears, you wind up with a lot of hungry, angry bears in your yard............


6 posted on 12/27/2011 6:52:50 AM PST by Red Badger (Every child should have a meadow to play in..............)
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To: Red Badger

I actually had a leftist using that point with me.

He said we couldn’t cut off entitlements, even to those committing fraud, because people would riot, and others would start taking by force what they were formerly being given through the government.

(He didn’t agree with me, but I said this would last about... oh, 2 or 3 shot looters worth of time.)


7 posted on 12/27/2011 6:56:11 AM PST by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter knows whom he's working for)
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To: MrB

http://web.mac.com/gobearviewing/iWeb/Feeding%20Bears/Colorado%20Woman%20Killed%20by%20Bear%20She%20Fed.html


8 posted on 12/27/2011 6:58:19 AM PST by Red Badger (Every child should have a meadow to play in..............)
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To: Kaslin

-——the final day on Earth is less than a year away, ——

That is an interpretation not supported by fact. The calendar does have an end point, but the next day is a beginning point.

The year ends on December 31, but there is a new day, a new year on January 1.


9 posted on 12/27/2011 7:12:33 AM PST by bert (K.E. N.P. +12 ..... Crucifixion is coming)
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To: Kaslin

Ready to raise your blood pressure?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2825433/posts

Go read the “Wastebook” report. Grrrrrrr....


10 posted on 12/27/2011 8:03:38 AM PST by upchuck (Let's have the Revolution NOW before we get dumbed down to the point that we can't.)
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To: saintgermaine
Mine would be:

Eliminate presidential subsidized vacation trips. Get two per year and travel is no further than Camp David. Any further, they pay for it.

Eliminate ALL PAYMENTS TO THE STINKING UNITED NATIONS!!

Eliminate all free hand outs to illegals.

How much more will we save with these?

11 posted on 12/27/2011 10:15:41 AM PST by RetiredArmy (The End of Days draws near. In this time, you should be drawing closer to the Lord Jesus Christ.)
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To: RetiredArmy
Eliminate all free hand outs to illegals. How much more will we save with these?

Some of that savings has already been targeted with e.g. Medicaid reform. That is a big area that illegals are exploiting. There are others on the list.

12 posted on 12/27/2011 3:42:59 PM PST by lentulusgracchus
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To: saintgermaine

It’s put there by the American people, some of whom have never heard of these programs; for instance, I would imagine people in MS would support funding of the John C. Stennis Center if they knew it existed or even where it is.


13 posted on 12/27/2011 4:00:00 PM PST by Theodore R. (I'll still vote for Santorum if he is on the April 3 ballot.)
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