House Dems "Nothing left to cut in budget — ‘the cupboard is bare’"

[Svnla]

The federal budget has doubled in size in 12 years, from $1.9 trillion in 2001 to $3.8 trillion this year.

Wow, just wow. <shaking head>

 

[monovillage]

The ROTW is fantasy land?

Only in the fevered minds of the American Right, who firmly believe that day is night, if Rush said so.

Sorry, but you guys lost the cold war. Cold wars have consequences.

 

[Angry Irishman]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/22/rep-nancy-pelosi-nothing-left-cut-budget-cupboard-/

The fed budget is perfect. Not spending to little at all.


This is the mindset of the libs republicans have to work with.

I'm fairly sure she is either extremely senile and hides it well or she is actually being forced to take stupid pills that have the side effect of causing unfettered idol worship.

 

[Thebobo]

I think the NSA's budget could be cut by quite a bit.

I would agree with you but I love the NSA!

 

[boomerang]

I'm fairly sure she is either extremely senile and hides it well or she is actually being forced to take stupid pills that have the side effect of causing unfettered idol worship.

There should be a mandatory retirement age. There are 39 members of Congress over the age of 70 right now. 19 more are 70 or will reach the age of 70 in the next year.

But a mandatory retirement age will never be implemented because we don't make the rules - they do.

 

[Jhhnn]

That is NOT what Pelosi said and you know it.

Are you forgetting 2010 election with 44 million votes for GOP vs 38 million votes for Dems? A 46.9% vs 48.3% 2012 election is supposed to reverse the 63 seats they picked up 2 years earlier?

I referenced the 2012 election, the one that created the current HOR, something you have confirmed. The 2010 election wasn't really pro- Republican, but rather anti- incumbent, anyway.

Your comments in no way invalidate what I offered earlier. You actually confirm it.

 

[Jhhnn]

Sorry, but you guys lost the cold war. Cold wars have consequences.

Heh. The EU lost the Cold War? The ROTW as well? Really?

 

[Lash444]

I would agree with you but I love the NSA!

Well keep on loving the NSA then. How much money do you think could be generated with the information that the NSA collects on a day to day basis?

We might as well have dug a huge pit and told other countries to throw their money into it. Now I am totally against the NSA and what it is doing, but the other guy wants to cut their budget because you think its wasting money? Way to think that one out!

 

[shortylickens]

http://crfb.org/stabilizethedebt/

I bet we could if we actually tried.

 

[Angry Irishman]

There should be a mandatory retirement age. There are 39 members of Congress over the age of 70 right now. 19 more are 70 or will reach the age of 70 in the next year.

But a mandatory retirement age will never be implemented because we don't make the rules - they do.

Term limits....needed

 

[nehalem256]

I suppose it's an issue of perspective. HOR Repubs weren't shy about raising farm subsidies even as they hack foodstamps. I suppose that agribusiness needs more subsidies since they'll be selling less food, right?

So $4B a year is "hacking"?:hmm:

 

[boomerang]

Term limits....needed

Term limits as well as a mandatory retirement age. Neither will be implemented without a grass roots effort to get it done. Congress has zero incentive to do these things.

 

[boomerang]

http://crfb.org/stabilizethedebt/

I bet we could if we actually tried.

Who is we? Congress as a whole and the White House could care less. Some folks like to crow about Clinton's "balanced budget". It was on paper only. It was never actually achieved and not even achievable. It was feel-good bullshit. Under Bush, Congress spent a ton and Congress under Obama has eclipsed that number.

The only people that can rein in our politicians are the people who have had their power eroded bit by bit for a century. The majority of those people are on government assistance of one form or another.

Remember that quirky little guy that warned us about that giant sucking sound? We're living with those results and DC is too corrupt to care.

 

[PokerGuy]

Ugh I hate these people making these comments. We will never be able to get sh*t done if this is the comments that are made.

This is not just some person out in left field, this is the moron that the democrats continue to have as their leader. She has legions of terminally stupid supporters who believe this same tripe, with a willing accomplice in the media to not call her out on her repeated stupidity.

The military could take huge cuts, such as stop making things the military doesn't want, along with sh*t that will never be used.

Agreed, no part of the budget should be above scrutiny. Cuts need to be made everywhere, and the military should not be a sacred cow.

 

[Jhhnn]

So $4B a year is "hacking"?:hmm:

Yes, particularly in context.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/hating-on-food-stamps/

Haters gonna hate, and I'm sure you're proud to be one.

The best part of it all is the Repub insistence that participants have a job, when there aren't any, or to be training for jobs that don't exist in states where there are no training programs.

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-acti...tes-to-cut-39-billion-from-food-stamp-program

Catch 22, and another symptom of Teahadists' fundamental disconnect from reality.

 

[Exterous]

The military could take huge cuts, such as stop making things the military doesn't want, along with shit that will never be used.

Unfortunately this seems to affect both parties:
"Cut the defense budget!"
"Wait - you want to cut\underfund what program? But thats in MY state!"
*Lobbies to have that program\funding not cut*

 

[EagleKeeper]

The House of Rep is supposed to reflect the people's choices; not the state or the opponents.

Each state draws up its representative districts based on its local government.

The locals seem to feel that they have a good system of checks and balances and it is their decision. Stacking the deck can have unintended consequences.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Unfortunately this seems to affect both parties:
"Cut the defense budget!"
"Wait - you want to cut\underfund what program? But thats in MY state!"
*Lobbies to have that program\funding not cut*

As I have stated before; freeze all increases across the board for all departments. Even better, cut 5% across the board. Every manager knows where there is 5% waste.

If a department wants and extra $100K for project A; then they better find a way to fund it internally or have another department hand over funding.

Do not gut a future program that has no $$, saying that those $$ are saved; cut something present that has $$ behind it

 

[nehalem256]

Yes, particularly in context.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/hating-on-food-stamps/

Haters gonna hate, and I'm sure you're proud to be one.

The best part of it all is the Repub insistence that participants have a job, when there aren't any, or to be training for jobs that don't exist in states where there are no training programs.

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-acti...tes-to-cut-39-billion-from-food-stamp-program

Catch 22, and another symptom of Teahadists' fundamental disconnect from reality.

None of that explains how cutting $4B a year from a program that has exploded is "hacking" it.

EDIT: Maybe there aren't jobs because Democrats want to refuse to let them have them?

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2330358

How would Democrats be able to complain about food deserts and no jobs if Walmart moves in and provides cheap food and jobs?

 

[JockoJohnson]

Democrats are middle/right, to the right of the conservative parties of every other 1st world country.

We could start by gutting the military by 3/4, but the Republicans won't touch it.

You keep saying that in every political thread. Who gives a fuck? We are talking about the US. Not relating it to other .govs of the world and political leanings.

However, I can admit that the military budget might be a bit high but 3/4? No way...the MILITARY is one of the core functions of the federal gov't designated by the Constitution.

 

[nehalem256]

Democrats are middle/right, to the right of the conservative parties of every other 1st world country.

We could start by gutting the military by 3/4, but the Republicans won't touch it.

Wasn't half of the sequester military spending?

And who threw a bigger fit about the sequester? Democrats or Republicans? :hmm:

 

[TerryMathews]

Wasn't half of the sequester military spending?

And who threw a bigger fit about the sequester? Democrats or Republicans? :hmm:

It was. And the Republicans didn't throw quite the same temper tantrum Obama did.

"Make the cuts hurt."

FAA controllers? I rest my case.

 

[Jhhnn]

None of that explains how cutting $4B a year from a program that has exploded is "hacking" it.

EDIT: Maybe there aren't jobs because Democrats want to refuse to let them have them?

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2330358

How would Democrats be able to complain about food deserts and no jobs if Walmart moves in and provides cheap food and jobs?

The program has expanded in response to the greatest Repub induced financial/ economic calamity since 1929. Obviously, Righties would prefer that we re-live the Great Depression rather than employ current methods.

Walmart doesn't increase jobs, at all, but rather decreases them with economies of scale & beatdowns of wage levels. When employees have less to spend, the economy they support necessarily suffers along with their earnings. There's considerable lag in that, due to the extension of credit, which is the story of the middle class for the last 30 years.

http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/4...bt-not-public-debt-that-got-us-into-this-mess

Trickle down just means they'll loan you more money.

 

[Thebobo]

Well keep on loving the NSA then. How much money do you think could be generated with the information that the NSA collects on a day to day basis?

We might as well have dug a huge pit and told other countries to throw their money into it. Now I am totally against the NSA and what it is doing, but the other guy wants to cut their budget because you think its wasting money? Way to think that one out!

Sorry forgot to add /:sarcasm

 

[boomerang]

See item 5)

an amendment to limit and sunset federal regulations and subject the existence of all federal departments to stand-alone reauthorization bills every three years.

The dollar figure proposed is for any department which has a budget of over $100 million. (This figure is subject to discussion as well as the wording of the proposed amendment.) It's an outline, not a dictum.

The purpose is to provide a means to curb runaway growth in federal agencies and to provide a mechanism to more readily kill off "experiments" that don't work. It will also help with duplications of effort, etc. It will force Congress to reexamine that which they have enabled through funding every three years.

If we don't change our current system, we can only expect more of the same.