The left is howling over the draconian budget cuts in the recent deal to avert a government shutdown. Is $39 billion truly painful cuts? Hold the presses! When the smoke and mirrors are removed, the real budget cuts were closer to $14 billion.[i] Wait a minute—is it only $350 million? In a $1.6 trillion deficit, that is like losing a penny. There is more waste in the trashcans of Washington D.C.
The truth is that mountains of waste can be found in any government agency. Harry Reid says that the Cowboy Poetry Festival must be saved.[ii] I was raised a cowboy on a ranch in Colorado. I love the Sons of the Pioneers, but you got to be kidding me. America is bankrupt! Must we “save” some cowboy poets? Let’em punch cows to make a living!
A measly $39 billion is not draconian when tens of billions of dollars could still be attached by earmarks![iii] Where is the promise to eliminate all earmarks? Boehner claims that there are no earmarks, but let’s wait and see what the “final” bill has. It is past time to break Congress from sucking eggs.
Has anyone done the math? $39 billion divided into a $1.6 trillion deficit means that it will take over 41 years to just pay off the deficit of this one budget. Come on, Rhinos! Get some guts. Be bold! Cut the budget by $2 trillion. Even that would not be draconian—it’s called balancing the budget and reducing the debt.
