Quote:
Originally Posted by Nepenthes
Here is the Republican plan from their Pledge to America:
A PLAN TO STOP OUT OF CONTROL SPENDING &
REDUCE THE SIZE OF GOVERNMENT
1.We will put government on a path to a balanced
budget and pay down the debt with a plan to:
2. Act immediately to reduce spending by cancelling
unspent stimulus funds
3. Cut government spending to pre-stimulus, prebailout
levels saving at least $100 billion in the
first year alone
4. Establish a hard cap on new discretionary
spending
5. Cut Congress’ budget
6. Hold weekly votes on spending cuts
7. We will reduce the size of government with a plan to:
8. End TARP once and for all
9. End government control of Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac
10. Impose a net federal hiring freeze on non-security
employees
11. Root out government waste and sunset outdated
and duplicative programs
12. We will reform the budget process to focus on longterm
challenges
Source ==> pledge.gop.gov/resources/library/documents/solutions/pledge-pocket-card.pdf
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And none of those "cuts" will make anything more than a minor dent in the long term deficits the US faces. In fact, if the Bush tax cuts are made permanent like the republicans want, this won't even be enough to make up for that loss of revenue.
Social security, medicare and defense make up almost 3/4s of the budget. You can cut everything else down to 0 and the United States would still run a deficit.
So which of the republican candidates elected on tuesday ran on a platform of cutting social security, medicare and military spending? And by cutting social security and medicare, I don't mean privatizing (as that actually increases deficits in the short run).
Hell, to make this farce even more blatant, a number of them gained support precisely because the elderly are upset that the current health care bill actually cuts medicare spending.