Military Cutbacks March 1st.

[dlazarus6660]

Sequestration. Fancy word to save money. More like castration of our military might.

Military Cutbacks begin March 1st. I can think of two countries enjoying hearing this.

https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/08/us-usa-fiscal-whitehouse-idUSBRE9170SQ20130208

 

[aditat2]

Marks the beginning of the end - I'm afraid.

 

[Quaranta]

I predict this thread doesn't make it to midnight...

That said... we (the US Fed Gov't) spend $4B more than it takes in every DAY.

Considering there are about 300M US citizens,... that's ~$13/day for ever breathing soul in the US... $4745 / year. subtract out kids, seniors, etc and the number grows.

Who hear is willing to pay $10K/year MORE in taxes. Because that's what it would take at the current rate of spending...


Bottom line is spending needs to be cut across the board. No sacred cows. We've been living beyond our means.

 

[dlazarus6660]

I predict this thread doesn't make it to midnight...

Bottom line is spending needs to be cut across the board. No sacred cows. We've been living beyond our means.

OK, lets start with Washington, DC Let them cutback first. Oh and the Guy in charge of the military needs a cut in pay back to the $400,000.00 a year and not the million + a year.

 

[samb]

... we (the US Fed Gov't) spend $4B more than it takes in every DAY.

Considering there are about 300M US citizens,... that's ~$13/day for ever breathing soul in the US... $4745 / year. subtract out kids, seniors, etc and the number grows.

Who hear is willing to pay $10K/year MORE in taxes. Because that's what it would take at the current rate of spending...

The biggest possible +1 Quaranta. 2013's gonna hurt, I'm afraid. In the words of Sgt. Esterhaus:
"Let's be careful out there."



p.s. No, I don't believe it would have made a difference with Romney.

 

[Dork_Vader]

OK, lets start with Washington, DC Let them cutback first. Oh and the Guy in charge of the military needs a cut in pay back to the $400,000.00 a year and not the million + a year.

I agree that they should have their benefits and pay cut substanially. Politics shouldn't be a career it should be a service. They can be paid the average median income in America and receive the average benefits. They can also stay in a dorm and they can fly coach. (I'd imagine airports would get additional funding fairly quickly). How ever it's important to note that their pay and benefits aren't even a drop in the bucket when compared to the Budget.

Of 2/3 of the Budget is spent on Socail Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment, Disability and other various social programs. They could eliminate DOD funding entirely and still run a $900 billion+ deficit.

 

[TALON]

One of the main problems is the entitlement programs, free smart phones, increased benefits for more babies, food stamp scams, etc. Then there is gvmt. Spending millions of $$ for improvements to a small muni airport just so that a senator can fly into it because he lives there. Then there is the billions to counties who hate the US. Not to mention the red tape & $$$ to start a business.

 

[luke strawwalker]

I predict this thread doesn't make it to midnight...

That said... we (the US Fed Gov't) spend $4B more than it takes in every DAY.

Considering there are about 300M US citizens,... that's ~$13/day for ever breathing soul in the US... $4745 / year. subtract out kids, seniors, etc and the number grows.

Who hear is willing to pay $10K/year MORE in taxes. Because that's what it would take at the current rate of spending...


Bottom line is spending needs to be cut across the board. No sacred cows. We've been living beyond our means.

Absolutely true...

The spending is what's killing us... raise taxes all you like and we're STILL gonna go broke the way the gubmint is spending money.

You'd have thought the first ever downgrade in US gov't borrower rating in history would have been a wake-up call. It wasn't. You'd think that the gov't having to print hundreds of billions to buy its own debt would be a wake-up call... it's not.

We've hit the iceberg, the water is starting to pour in, and all the gov't can do is argue over how the deck chairs are arranged on the Titanic...

Oh well... some of us have known this sort of thing was coming for a LONG time...

Later! OL JR

 

[dlazarus6660]

Can somebody play taps for the U.S.

 

[Quaranta]

Can somebody play taps for the U.S.

So living within our means,... means the end?

I beg to differ. IMHO,... that will be a new dawn to a brighter future.

If I were in charge... real cuts where both sides can agree. After that,... 1% cut across the board for everything else. Nothing spared. This is repeated every year until 5% budget surplus achieved.

 

[mjhall]

If memory serves me the military budget represents 15 or 20 percent of the federal budget. Where does all the rest of the money go? Entitlements, pork barrel, poorly run government programs etc.etc.

In my mind the federal governments first and foremost responsibility is to protect the country.

And how about the concept that everybody pay their "fair share" in taxes? Rich or poor everyone should contribute something.

 

[Zeus-cat]

I read an editorial where the author suggested we RAISE the pay of the President, VP, all Senators, Representatives and top judges to $1,000,000 a year. His claim was that we curently get what we pay for. If we raised the pay we could attract successful people who know how to get things done. His analysis said it would cost taxpayers about $1,000,000,000 a year to do this.

 

[mjhall]

Sounds like it could be a good return on an investment!

 

[cwbullet]

It is this simple. We all need to cut back. I will take a 10% pay cut, but will all the othe federal employees do the same? We can all take 10 % of our pay and pay down the deficit. It may take a while but we owe it to our children.

First though, we need to reduce spending.

 

[o1d_dude]

I watched Nancy Pelosi on Fox Sunday. When confronted by the inescapable fact that if we taxed the rich at 100% of their earnings, there still was not enough money to offset the 1 trillion and change in annual deficit spending, she said "We don't have to pay off the deficit."

The interviewer was incredulous as was I.

Not that I'm as wealthy as she is but in my household the outgo is never allowed to exceed the income. Duh.

 

[cwbullet]

I just looked up some facts: 41% of our taxes go to pay for Medicare, Medicaid, SS, and CHIP (medical care for children). 20% for defense (4% of the GDP).

They are talking about 25-35% cut in defense. That is not going to be enought. We need to cut a lot more than just defense.

 

[Dork_Vader]

What needs to happen is they need to start eliminating subsidies to corporations. GE makes most of its money off of big government.

I had to replace a piece of equipement at one of my stores recently.. It was because of a Government mandate/ban. The reason? GE produced the replacement which was supposedly more efficient. The problem was it cost nearly double, doesn't clean as well and actually consumes more energy... No one in their right mind would buy it so GE had CA ban the competition. GE is also heavily invested in solar, high speed rail and so on. Take a look at GR portfolio the majority of their big ticket items all come from Government subsidized industries.

Revenue isn't the problem. The federal Government generates between $2.25-2.5 trillion in revenue a year.. Let's put that into perspective.. Only 5 Countries have a GDP of $2.0 trillion or more... Those countries can manage to function and provide for their Nation with far less revenue.. Yet ours can't even maintain basic infrastructure with over $2.25 trillion dollars.

If people knew how corrupt the Government is they would disgusted. A friend of mine had a Senator threaten to regulate the industry he is in.. Stocks plummeted the senator then went all in on the stocks and scrapped the regulations. He made millions..

 

[Dork_Vader]

What I would like to add is it drives me nuts that NASA is always on the chopping block! Grrr! NASA has been one of the only investments to return a profit. The Saturn V program was one of the most profitable expenditures the federal government has made to date.

DOD spending is also typically fairly profitable. Their R&D has lead to numerous technologies that created billion dollar industries.

 

[mkadams001]

What I would like to add is it drives me nuts that NASA is always on the chopping block! Grrr! NASA has been one of the only investments to return a profit. The Saturn V program was one of the most profitable expenditures the federal government has made to date.

DOD spending is also typically fairly profitable. Their R&D has lead to numerous technologies that created billion dollar industries.

Please validate those statements. I have never heard that NASA is profitable or the DOD for that matter.

 

[dave carver]

What I would like to add is it drives me nuts that NASA is always on the chopping block! Grrr! NASA has been one of the only investments to return a profit. The Saturn V program was one of the most profitable expenditures the federal government has made to date.

DOD spending is also typically fairly profitable. Their R&D has lead to numerous technologies that created billion dollar industries.

There was just a report on an Air Force computer system that was to unify all the Air Force's computers. We have invested $1,000,000,000 into it. It doesn't work. System is a complete failure. Same company has other Gov. contracts to do the same sort of system for them....think they will succeed? I have my doubts.

 

[degreaser]

I predict this thread doesn't make it to midnight...

I heard a large number of our aircraft carriers are all lined up in a row. I guess we didn't learn the lesson from Pearl Harbor. Some require reactor refueling and we don't have the funds.

 

[Fred22]

Guys all western governments are cutting defence spending or freezing it. Britian is in the final stages of a painful defence review right now. Our government is buying some new equipment but freezing defence spending for the most part. In my opinion America's has shouldered more then it's fair share of the burden of western defence. It's time for them to experience some relief from this expense. The hard part is making sure what you keep works effectively. For example why keep land based ICBM's? SLBM's are every bit as accurate now and their location cannot be calculated to the inch. Just saying people need to realize that what would be worse for the world's economy is if the American economy collapsed.
Cheers
Fred

 

[cwbullet]

I am ok with cuts as long as we cut spending and all programs to include SS, Medicaid and Medicare.

 

[Peartree]

So as not to single out any one party, or demographic group, or lobbying organization or... whatever, why not just do what many major corporations do. If we are over budget we cut. Over by 20 percent, then everyone, every department, every line item, takes a 20 percent cut. Over by 10% then cut 10%. When the pain starts, maybe they'll get serious about prioritizing.

This doesn't necessarily mean that those who receive Social Security will take a 20% cut, what it means is that those who administer Social Security have to find a way to cut 20% of their budget from salaries, waste, and every other item that they have control over.

Will it be painful? Yes. Will people be angry? Yes.

But will anyone ever get serious about the problem if *their* lifestyle is not impacted in any way? No.

As bad as it might be to make broad and serious cuts, it will be far worse if no one was willing to loan us more money to fund the deficit. When (not if) that happens, checks start bouncing and the whole party comes to a screeching halt. That would get really ugly very fast.

 

[Fred22]

So as not to single out any one party, or demographic group, or lobbying organization or... whatever, why not just do what many major corporations do. If we are over budget we cut. Over by 20 percent, then everyone, every department, every line item, takes a 20 percent cut. Over by 10% then cut 10%. When the pain starts, maybe they'll get serious about prioritizing.

This doesn't necessarily mean that those who receive Social Security will take a 20% cut, what it means is that those who administer Social Security have to find a way to cut 20% of their budget from salaries, waste, and every other item that they have control over.

Will it be painful? Yes. Will people be angry? Yes.

But will anyone ever get serious about the problem if *their* lifestyle is not impacted in any way? No.

As bad as it might be to make broad and serious cuts, it will be far worse if no one was willing to loan us more money to fund the deficit. When (not if) that happens, checks start bouncing and the whole party comes to a screeching halt. That would get really ugly very fast.

Very well put John Up here everybody wants to cut spending till it impacts them.
cheers
fred

 

[dlazarus6660]

Wow. This thread is still going. Thanks guys for being responsible and careful about you words and content.

 

[Peter Olivola]

How does Social Security contribute to the debt?

I am ok with cuts as long as we cut spending and all programs to include SS, Medicaid and Medicare.

 

[cwbullet]

SS does not contribute to debt per say, but unless it is cut, there is no solution. SS, Medicaid, and Medicare account for 21 cents on every dollar of federal taxes we pay.

 

[COrocket]

Please validate those statements. I have never heard that NASA is profitable or the DOD for that matter.

NASA and the DOD are/were never directly profitable. People credit government agencies "profiting" when the studies come out that say for every X amount of dollars we put into a project, there is X greater amount of economic activity as a result. Despite this, the way we are spending is obviously unsustainable. Without trying to get political, it is going to take deep cuts in many (not just the DOD) government departments to get our spending down, as well as significant tax increases for everyone to get this situation under control. Right now our debt is around $50,000 for every person in america. This would be overwhelming for nearly everyone to think about on their individual basis, but it is a reality we all must confront. However I think this is a problem that we can solve if all 300,000,000+ Americans work together.

 

[o1d_dude]

Even with the Obama-approved sequestration/cutbacks, the US government will still run at a deficit.

Dunno about you folks but in my household we stop spending when the money's all gone.