printIf the Republicans’ ideas on budget slashing is anything like McMoron’s, then, the months ahead will be filled with threats to cut National Public Radio loose, and to do away with earmarks—minuscule amounts which don’t cover a day’s interest payment on the national debt.
Even the Harvard Political Review, which now departs from the King of Keynesians, Paul Krugman, knows as much. The editors of the HPR-produced “Annual Report of the USA” include a Democrat and a Republican. The one writes:
“Despite public criticism of ‘pork barrel’ spending and foreign aid, these items constitute a minuscule portion of the federal budget. Instead, the area of greatest concern is spending on the major entitlements: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Spending on these programs is expected to skyrocket in the coming decades due to an aging population and the increasing cost of medical care. The long-term Social Security solvency problem can be avoided if Congress can muster the political will, but there is no obvious solution as to how to limit the growth of public health care spending. One of the major goals of the recent health care reform legislation was to reduce health spending over the long term, but achieving this will require a discerning and disciplined Congress in the years to come.”
“While the military budget is not growing nearly as rapidly as spending on entitlements, it represents nearly a fifth of total federal spending and is a perennial target of deficit hawks. While there is some waste in defense spending that could be eliminated without much consequence, more fundamental cuts will entail a sacrifice of military capabilities.”
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The deceptive issue of earmarks was raised by Rep. Eric Cantor, of Virginia. From Chris Wallace’s interview with Cantor, the “Presumptive House majority leader,” it transpires, moreover, that Republicans intend to demand “sizable” spending cuts (presumably other than earmarks or NPR) from Obama in return for agreeing to raise the debt-ceiling.
The debt ceiling should not be raised. Better that the government be forced into default. In that case, a government shut-down, as in 1995, would be most welcome.
To his credit, Cantor did not rule out such eventualities. Should they occur, he contended, Obama would be the one to blame for the fiscal crisis that brought about a default on the debt and a subsequent government shut-down.
If government shuts-down for long enough, we may find ourselves thanking Obama for delivering us from evil, indirectly, at least.
We could certainly get our troops out of most foreign countries in the next 2 years and save $ 300 Billion / year. One should think of how to eventually get out of Medicare / Medicaid – first by getting the non-indigent off the health dole. Social Security can be phased out over 60 years by making the young people pay for retirement for themselves with middle-year people getting a small credit for paying for the first 10-20 years of the system. Then HUD, Agriculture, Education, National Endowments of Arts/Humanities can be eliminated. It won’t solve everything but it might at least get the budget near balance over the next decade….