House GOP Lists $2.5 Trillion in Spending Cuts

[PoliticAverse]

Source: US News and World Report (usnews.com)

Moving aggressively to make good on election promises to slash the federal budget, the House GOP today unveiled an eye-popping plan to eliminate $2.5 trillion in spending over the next 10 years. Gone would be Amtrak subsidies, fat checks to the Legal Services Corporation and National Endowment for the Arts, and some $900 million to run President Obama's healthcare reform program.

Read more: http://www.usnews.com/news/washington-whispers/articles/2011/01/20/house-gop-lists-25-trillion-in-spending-cuts

[frazzled]

1. "fat checks" to the National Endowment for the Arts?

How ludicrous: after the culture wars of the Gingrich era, funding to the NEA is so low it's embarrassing.

National Endowment for the Arts. $167.5 million annual savings.

National Endowment for the Humanities. $167.5 million annual savings.

Here's some other stuff I love:

Applied Research at Department of Energy. $1.27 billion annual savings. Are you kidding me? This is what they consider fluff?

Economic Assistance to Egypt. $250 million annually. Oh, excellent. Cut off an entire country from US foreign aid. That will win us lots of hearts and minds in the Arab world, and help to destabilize Egypt.

Programs under the National and Community Services Act. $1.15 billion annual savings. Yeah, what do we need such volunteer program for anyway.

[nyy1998]

8. The good news, it's jsut a negotiating tactic, an initial offer so to speak...

The bad news is that Obama will have to accept cuts to some of those programs and several departments(although it'll be ironic to see Obama seek cuts to his DOD spending while Congressional Republicans say no).

The next two months are going to be very interesting as far as the budget goes.

[DallasNE]

9. Smoke And Mirrors

With a large dose of fuzzy math --- most especially the $900 billion savings by cancelling the Affordable Care Act, which the CBO says actually reduces the deficit by over $300 billion.

There can be no discussion as long as the GOP persists in bypassing CBO because that would be buying a pig in a poke at best. The dishonesty is just mind boggling.

[fascisthunter]

2. ...after they helped bankrupt the nation as a whole

[bluestateguy]

3. I didn't see anything from the Pentagon on that list

Maybe I need to read it again.

[Lochloosa]

4. Don't bother

[phantom power]

5. somewhere, Grover Norquist is smiling

:eyes:

[bluestateguy]

6. At least Grover Norquist favors cutting the bloated military budget

I'll give him that much.

[CountAllVotes]

7. what!

No more cocktail parties for you Mr. Boner? :P