How I would cut federal spending, or: We should have insisted they shut the federal government down

Dees Illustration

Marti Oakley, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

The waste, fraud and corruption in our federal government established over decades via career politicians and faux political party’s has brought our country to the brink of disaster.  The recent threat of a government shutdown over contrived budget differences was a golden opportunity to stop the corporately controlled machine that is killing us.  This should not have been a matter of preventing a shutdown . . . we should have insisted they shut down.  And then we should have stepped up, cleaned house (and senate) and used this opportunity to rid ourselves of these prevaricator’s, thieves, charlatans . . . corporate lackey’s all of them, and started over.

After viewing the political trickery sold to the public as “spending cuts of historic proportions”, I decided to write my own list of REAL spending cuts that would benefit us all.  I believe I can save the country more than a measly 78 or 84 billion in pretended cuts put out by the Republi-crats.

This is my eight step plan that would save us billions just this year and help stem the flow of the surveillance state being planned for us by the Repuli-crats.  It would also be the beginning of defunding of federal corporate agencies which are a threat to our nation.

1.  Dispense with building the new Utah data collection center meant to be used to correlate all the surveillance gathered on legal, law-biding US citizens.   Savings: 1.2 billion

2.  End the purchase and outfitting of roving surveillance x-ray scanners by HSD: And the cost of these 500 police state vans?
-500 @ 729,000 each = 364,500,000.  That’s on the low side.
-500 @ 825,000 each= 412,500,00 million on the high side.
-5 employees per van at an average government wage of 45,000 per year =112,500,000
Estimated  Savings would be: 388,500,000

3.  Cut the planned purchase of drones meant for use in the US for spying without warrant and without any evidence of a crime:  Cost per drone is 30,000 X 100:   Savings: 3,000,000 

4.  End the 38 billion in tax credits and subsidies to oil cartels.  While these are supposedly spread over some fictional ten year period, these cartels are paying no taxes on the greatest profits in history.  Savings: 38 billion

5.  End these illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Monetary cost for these two wars since their inceptions will reach will reach 126.7 trillion by the end of 2011.  The projected costs for just 2011 are 170.5 billion.  Per year estimated Savings: 170.5 billion

6.  Defund the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  This corporate federal agency which is privately owned will costAmerica2.571 billion for 2011.  This agency, which was supposedly created to ensure proper labeling of products, has approved so many lethal medications, vaccines and other toxic products that have cost the US not only monetarily but in lives lost or permanently injured due to their pay-to play policies.  FDA approval of any product should come with a skull & crossbones warning with a huge dollar sign overlay. This is an agency which represents a clear and present danger to the safety of the US.   Estimated yearly savings 2.571 billion

7. Cut taxpayer funded federal employee retirement plans for congress.  We currently have 290 retirees receiving an average of 60,972.  Federal employees should be treated no different than private sector employees and should fund their own retirement.  Estimate annual savings: 17,681,000

8. We have an additional 123 receiving benefits from both (Civil Service Retirement System) CSRS and/or from FERS (Federal Employees Retirement System) at an additional average cost of 35,952 per year.  Estimated annual savings:  4,422,000

Grand total for my savings plan is 212 billion,797 million,103 thousand,976 ($212,797,103,976) estimated and subject to manipulation of figures as those presented to the public under dubious bookkeeping and accounting methods used by the federal government.

Now see how easy that was?  I just saved us almost 213 billion for just this year alone which is just about 2.3 times the amount in historically fictional savings Obama and the Republi-crats claimed that are really of no benefit at all.

I didn’t get anywhere near defunding the onerous USDA and Monsanto nor did I go anywhere near the 105 billion John Boehner approved for Obamacare funding (the same Obamacare that Republi-crats swore they would tear out by the roots.

I did not touch the admitted 365 billion that it costs the federal government annually to fund illegal immigration rather than securing our border and enforcing our immigration policies.

Neither did I approach the 213 billion slated for theft of land from the states and the 1.4 billion spent annually funding the slaughter of our wild horses and burro’s by the corrupt and much despised Bureau of Land Mis-Management.

See!  I could have saved us another estimated 684.5 billion! And, our wild horses and burros would be safe, and states would not be forfeiting their land to the federal government.

We’ll get to these things another day.

The fact is, that rather than cut any of those oppressive top 7 only, the Republi-crats want to cut Medicare to the elderly, to wipe out Social Security and divert those funds to Wall Street.  They want to cut fuel assistance to the poor and educational grants for advanced education.   While 22 million American workers have seen their jobs disappear to slave labor markets, and while these same workers lose their homes and any income they had, the Republi-crats in their infinite wisdom want to cut food stamps….but not to illegal immigrants.
                                                              
Cutting federal spending is really quite easy as long as you aren’t a politician.  

Marti Oakley is a political activist and former op-ed columnist for the St Cloud Times in Minnesota. She was a member of the Times Writer’s Group until she resigned in September of 07. She is neither Democrat nor Republican, since neither party is representative of the American people. She says what she thinks, means what she says, and is known for being outspoken. She is hopeful that the American public will wake up to what is happening to our beloved country . . . little of it is left.  Her website is The PPJ Gazette