Federal Agencies that should be completely eliminated

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: palehorse

Originally posted by: Gand1
NEA provides Americans with a little something called culture. We waste plenty of money in many other areas that could be cut.

"Culture" is something that occurs naturally in every society. There is no reason why it would need to be financed by any Federal government.

That's why Texas and New York both developed the same level of culture naturally.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: dainthomas
How about the Department of Homeland Security (aka the Department of Redundancy Department)?

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
Department of Homeland Security.

I'll never understand how the greatest gov't reorganization since WWII created this behemoth with no study, oversight, consultation or consideration of organizational development or review of overall Federal bureaucracy.

And more money can be saved by slashing the Part D Big Pharma Give-A-Way, eliminating Medicare Advantage, putting the screws on DOD procurement and leaving Iraq (and that $10b/month rathole) in an orderly fashion than you could ever hope to find in the remaining discretionary budget.

 

[ParticleMan]

The NEA is a waste of money, but there are bigger fish to fry. Defense could be cut in half if only we actually used our military for defense and not offense.

 

[Harvey]

Originally posted by: palehorse

"Culture" is something that occurs naturally in every society. There is no reason why it would need to be financed by any Federal government.

Would be? Maybe. Should be? Absolutely. The arts are part of what makes a society great. And if you want to cling to your wallet, well cultured societies also attract capital.

This has to be one of the dumbest threads you've ever posted. :roll:

 

[palehorse]

Originally posted by: RichardE
HAHA 10/10 for troll thread

I would cut DoD funding down considerably and restrict it to border defence. Save alot more money than choice #1.

How the hell is this a troll thread?! These days, we spend an awful lot of time talking in circles about "cutting spending" and "bringing change." This thread calls on each of us to get more specific in our suggestions.

I knew right from the start that it would be almost impossible for anyone to agree on any of the cuts; which, when you think about it, demonstrates perfectly just how difficult it will be for the next Admin, or any other, to make such cuts.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Craig234

Originally posted by: palehorse

Originally posted by: Gand1
NEA provides Americans with a little something called culture. We waste plenty of money in many other areas that could be cut.

"Culture" is something that occurs naturally in every society. There is no reason why it would need to be financed by any Federal government.

That's why Texas and New York both developed the same level of culture naturally.

you mean NYC, because the rest of NY is much like texas

 

[BigDH01]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
DEA
ATF (give this to FBI)
DIA (give this to CIA)
NSA (merge with CIA)
DHS (eliminate, overly political, should fix CIA/FBI before creating huge new expensive groups, and putting DHS over FEMA was mind-shatteringly stupid)

The intelligence agencies are wisely seperated to prevent group think.

 

[bamacre]

Worthless to talk about cutting the size of government when this country just elected another big government president. Americans don't want a smaller government, right?

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: Evan

Originally posted by: eskimospy

After the conclusion of major involvment in Afghanistan on our part I would cut the DoD budget anywhere from 33-50%.

That would be monumentally stupid.

We know it's not enough, but it can be cut more later. Care to make any argument for your position?

 

[palehorse]

Originally posted by: eskimospy
Keep the NEA, it finances good work. (cue the people whining about modern art) After the conclusion of major involvement in Afghanistan on our part I would cut the DoD budget anywhere from 33-50%.

OK, fair enough. Then we'll discuss it again in 10-15 years, or later.

I also agree with eliminating the DHS.

Do you mean that you would simply reduce it in size, break the individual agencies up again, or do away with all of them completely? (Coast Guard, ICE, Customs Service, FEMA, etc).

 

[palehorse]

Originally posted by: Harvey

Originally posted by: palehorse

I'll start.

1)
Agency: National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
Estimated Federal Budget Savings: $128.412 million/yr.
Reason: It's a completely non-essential expense that does nothing for national security, economic stability, or the condition of our infrastructure.

I know you're more intelligent than that, but since you seem to have forgotten, the greatness of every nation in history includes their contributions to the arts. The arts enrich both the social and economic well being of any nation.

Thanks for trolling. Now, stop. I know you're better and smarter than that. :thumbsdown:

I'll repeat this for you:

"Culture" is something that occurs naturally in every society. There is no reason why it would need to be financed by any Federal government.

 

[sandorski]

Start small. Rather than identifying/eliminating Depts, make a few Policy shifts and see which Depts are affected. May I suggest: End the War on Drugs first. Probably would kill the DEA, but may affect other Depts. Move some personnel around to where they are needed, layoff/fire the rest.

 

[bamacre]

You guys bicker about a $128 million per year budget and no one gives a shit we sent a billion dollars to Georgia, nor $3 billion a year to Israel, and about that much more to her neighbors.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: hellod9
How about this one?

Office of Government Ethics
www.usoge.gov

From what I've seen over the past 8 years, THAT department needs their budget quadrupled...
(sad to think that you have to teach ethics to government employees)

How about putting a total stop on ALL foreign aid?
Why the fuck should we be giving a dammed dime to countries who hate us?

Why the fuck should we be giving a dammed dime to countries who SPY on us?

As far as the farm subsidy issues mentioned earlier...I don't object to small family farms getting some subsidy assistance, but the large corporate farms should NOT get one red cent...NOR should the US Government be in the business of paying for US corporate farms to advertise their goods in foreign countries...Let THEM pay that cost.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: hellod9
How about all the ones starting with the letter D?


Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
www.darpa.mil

Defense Information Systems Agency
www.disa.mil

Defense Intelligence Agency
www.dia.mil

Defense Logistics Agency
www.supply.dla.mil

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
www.dnfsb.gov

Defense Security Service
www.dss.mil

Defense Threat Reduction Agency
www.dtra.mil

Drug Enforcement Administration
www.usdoj.gov/dea

DARPA and DISA? Your ideas are mostly bad.

 

[fskimospy]

Originally posted by: Evan

Originally posted by: eskimospy

After the conclusion of major involvment in Afghanistan on our part I would cut the DoD budget anywhere from 33-50%.

That would be monumentally stupid.

No it wouldn't. Feel free to explain why you think so though.

 

[fskimospy]

Originally posted by: palehorse

Originally posted by: eskimospy
Keep the NEA, it finances good work. (cue the people whining about modern art) After the conclusion of major involvement in Afghanistan on our part I would cut the DoD budget anywhere from 33-50%.

OK, fair enough. Then we'll discuss it again in 10-15 years, or later.

I also agree with eliminating the DHS.

Do you mean that you would simply reduce it in size, break the individual agencies up again, or do away with all of them completely? (Coast Guard, ICE, Customs Service, FEMA, etc).

I meant get rid of the new structure built around the DHS since it was created. I feel it was a political construction that has done nothing to help the agencies under it, most of which were working just fine without DHS's 'help'.

And maybe we will talk in 10-15 years. I sincerely doubt it will be even half that long, but you never do know. My point was that currently the military budget is seriously in excess of the benefit we get from it and that I believe these cuts could bring that cost/benefit more into line with a program I can support.

 

[OCGuy]

The hippie is strong in this thread.

It must be nice to be so niave and think we dont need strong defense. I think Obama's first act should be to buy everyone a puppy!

 

[OFFascist]

BATFE and DEA they should be merged with the CIA.

IF we ended the war on drugs that would pretty much eliminate the DEA and also cut back on the need for the BATFE a good deal too.

 

[K1052]

I think generally it would be more worthwhile to examine the merits of individual programs within those agencies and address revenue holes/tax breaks that might be too excessive.

I would however be more than happy to ditch our $50+ billion a year drug war and the DEA along with it.

 

[fskimospy]

Originally posted by: Ocguy31
The hippie is strong in this thread.

It must be nice to be so niave and think we dont need strong defense. I think Obama's first act should be to buy everyone a puppy!

Or it might be nice to have seen the world, and have been in the military, and then from rational analysis determine that our military budget is far in excess of our needs.

EDIT: It must be sad to be so naive as to think the money we're blowing on our military is the best way to keep our country safe and our interests protected.

 

[palehorse]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
DEA
ATF (give this to FBI)
DIA (give this to CIA)
NSA (merge with CIA)
DHS (eliminate, overly political, should fix CIA/FBI before creating huge new expensive groups, and putting DHS over FEMA was mind-shatteringly stupid)

That's one hell of a CIA you're trying to piece together. You'd only end up with an Intelligence version of the DHS... YIKES!

Please remember that the CIA's main focus and requirements do not often coincide with our Defense requirements. The separation of the two is crucial in addressing those differences. Over the last eight years, The DIA's role has been refined and focused on those requirements that pertain to military operations worldwide. The CIA has quite willingly relinquished those requirements in order to remain focused on other strategic issues.

If you were to combine the two agencies, the military requirements would be placed at the bottom of the CIA's priority list, which is completely unacceptable for those of us in the military who depend on accurate and timely intelligence while we're putting our asses on the line.

I'd highly recommend leaving the DIA and CIA separate. The same is probably true for the NSA and their technological niche. I believe that it's much more efficient to maintain separate agencies, each with their own requirements niche and area of expertise.

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: eskimospy

Originally posted by: Ocguy31
The hippie is strong in this thread.

It must be nice to be so niave and think we dont need strong defense. I think Obama's first act should be to buy everyone a puppy!

Or it might be nice to have seen the world, and have been in the military, and then from rational analysis determine that our military budget is far in excess of our needs.

The only thing our military budget needs to cut is Iraq. Like right now.

 

[palehorse]

Originally posted by: Craig234

Originally posted by: palehorse

Originally posted by: Gand1
NEA provides Americans with a little something called culture. We waste plenty of money in many other areas that could be cut.

"Culture" is something that occurs naturally in every society. There is no reason why it would need to be financed by any Federal government.

That's why Texas and New York both developed the same level of culture naturally.

What's this bullshit about "levels"?! Have you ever been to Austin? It's frickin' amazing!

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: palehorse
I simply cannot fathom or comprehend the desire to cut Defense spending during a time when the country is involved in two (or more) wars... seriously, that boggles my mind.

I might understand the notion if we were not still at war, but doing so now just makes no damn sense to me...

Another suggestion:
I believe that the ATF and DEA should be severely downsized and consolidated.

If I were in charge, the words "downsize and consolidate" would be my rule of thumb. The Department of Homeland Security is a prime example of consolidation without the corresponding "downsize." They only got it half-right when it was created...

The military budget is within the % of most countries. The fact our economy is so much bigger than any other single country is the reason why it looks so large.

You wont see them cut the other 85% of the budget. Have to keep that social industrial complex running at full tilt. I only question what happens if they manage to cut the military to nothing. What will they cut then?