If We're Really Serious About the Deficit

Despite the belief that we are about to take courageous steps to cut our budget deficits, it really is simply business as usual.  Consider that the steps called for include significantly higher taxes on the wealthy, higher taxes on corporations, higher taxes on social security benfits (cynically refered to as budget cuts) and a broad based energy tax that will affect virtually everyone.  The budget cuts consist almost entirely of reduced defense spending.  If we are serious about cutting spending, let us consider the following:     

• Eliminate the Department of Education - 30,000 bureaucrats in Washington are never going to be the answer to our education problems, especially since effective education is managed locally.     
• Roll the Department of Veterans Affairs into Health and Human Services.  Creation of the DVA was strictly a political stroke to veterans from George Bush.     
• Combine the Departments of Energy and the Interior into a single Department of Natural Resources.     
• Eliminate the separate air wings of the Navy, Army and Marines; or eliminate the Air Force as a separate branch of the military.     
• Eliminate all tobacco subsidies.     
• Eliminate most farm subsidies.  It is foolish to pay farmers not to produce, then turn around and provide food stamps to the poor to pay for food at government subsidized higher prices.
• Eliminate the Space Station and Super Colliding Super Conductor.     
• Eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts and the national Endowment for the Humanities.  Both are nice to have, but cannot be justified in times of budgetary crisis. 

After all of this is accomplished, cut the administrative budgets of all departments 25% across the board.  I assure you that the government can cut this and not move any slower than it does now.  President Clinton may consider line item veto's of certain obvious pork projects.  The U.S. constitution states that the president must approve all bills and resolutions of the Congress for them to become law.  Test it in the Supreme Court.  If the projects are wisely chosen, even if the Supreme Court rejects this ploy, congress' hand may be forced to reconsider the line item veto.  Consider their options in such a case:  Fight to retain obvious and politically foolish pork, back down or change the law.  The outcome would be interesting.

All in all, we are facing certain increases in taxes and what appears to be net increases in spending.  This certainly does not appear to be new or different.  the only "change" I can discern is that the tax and spend policies of Carter, Mondale and Dukakis are now being sold by a highly polished and charismatic salesman.  I hope we are not being sold down the river.