House Repukes: cut $500 billion, incl. CPB

[midnight armadillo]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/21/national/nationalspecial/21cong.html

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 - Conservative House Republicans plan to recommend on Wednesday more than $500 billion in savings over 10 years to compensate for the costs of Hurricane Katrina as lawmakers continue to struggle to develop a consensus on the fiscal approach to the disaster.
...
At the top of a partial list of the potential cuts being circulated on Tuesday were previously suggested ideas like delaying the start of the new Medicare prescription drug coverage for one year to save $31 billion and eliminating $25 billion in projects from the newly enacted transportation measure.

The list also proposed eliminating the Moon-Mars initiative that NASA announced on Monday, for $44 billion in savings; ending support for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, $4 billion; cutting taxpayer payments for the national political conventions and the presidential election campaign fund, $600 million; and charging federal employees for parking, $1.54 billion.

[librechik]

1. sounds like Grover "Santa Claus" Norquist's Xmas list

slit my wrists, just don't rollback the taxcuts for the wealthy.

[smoogatz]

2. Cutting off federal $ to CPB is probably the best thing

that could happen to them at this point. The other alternative is that they'll be so thoroughly cowed by their far-right bosses that they'll turn into Fox Lite. PBS and NPR should find their funding elsewhere, IMO.

[Laelth]

11. Hmm ...

... lots of shows on PBS that I like, particularly at the state level. All the other industrialized nations have mostly-independent but state funded television. Why can't we?

-Laelth

[ClintonTyree]

3. You're shitting me, right?

Charging federal employees for parking? This is the best they can do? I notice they're not going anywhere near the fucking Pentagon, the most bloated, wasteful organization on the planet. Fucking pigs. :grr:

[midnight armadillo]

8. My first thought was...

$500 billion, they're closing down the Pentagon! Then, of course, I came to my senses...

[tularetom]

4. How about

shutting down all operations in Iraq? Actually I could care less about the moon-mars initiative and wtf is $1.54 billion for federal employee parking?

[smoogatz]

5. The obvious call is to repeal the trillions in tax-cuts for the rich,

do away with the Medicare drug-benefit boondoggle, and give back the money earmarked for the porkbarrel highway bill. The moon/mars thing is ridiculous, too--obviously.

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. I'll take a guess and say that what will actually happen is

that they will very quietly let the tax cuts die with the sunset clause, and not say a thing.

[Aviation Pro]

7. The real obvious call is to....

...tax the rich until they bleed from their ears.

[jayctravis]

9. "Oh gee...we have to cut stuff...

oh, man, there's that fraction we give to pbs...now don't scream libs...you gotta do your part for the hurricane!"

[truthisfreedom]

10. the republican approach: punish America's lower and middle-class for

national tragedies. this is what they wanted all along... to bleed the last fucking penny from the poor and drive them all into prison or prostitution. those thugs LOVE prostitutes. the younger the better.

[midnight armadillo]

12. bump for thurs morning.

.