If You Really Want To Cut The Federal Budget...

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Lurita Doan at Townhall.com posted her five suggestions for cutting the deficit.  These are five suggestions that would have very little impact on the average American.

1.  Cap the number of White House staffers and Czars.  Michelle Obama alone has amassed a staff that will cost the American taxpayers $6,364,000 over four years.  (That number is from the Canadian Free Press).  There are 42 Czars in the Obama Administration, each with staffing and office space requirements. According the Ms. Doan, "getting a grip on the czar's expenditures would equal or even exceed the $100billion-over-5-years budget cuts proposed by Defense Secretary Gates."

2Eliminate Agency and Congressional Slush Funds.  According to Ms. Doan, "these slush funds range from a few million to several hundred million and are not transparent to the American taxpayer, nor are most members of Congress aware of their existence or size."

3.  Cut certain bonuses for federal workers.  Annual retention bonuses and signing incentive bonuses can go as high as $50,000 per individual.  Ms. Doan explains, "many federal workers receive retention bonuses each month for decades while employed by the federal government."

4.  Eliminate phantom federal employees and their contigent slush funds.  Every year all Executive agencies place a line item in their budget for payroll and benefits as if they were fully staffed.  They are not fully staffed due to normal attrition and hiring practices, but they receive this money anyway.  According to Ms. Doan, "this funding provides a convenient slush fund within federal agencies that can then be re-allocated mid-year to other agency priorities not approved by Congress."

5.  Reduce the number of committees and subcommittes in Congress.  There are currently 23 House committees with 104 House subcommittees and17 Senate standing committees with 70 subcommittees.  There are also approximately 69 Joint (Senate/House) committees as well as several Conference committees.  Ms. Doan points out, "with fewer congressional committees and less staff, there might be less time and resources devoted to witch-hunts and show trials, and more effort spent on the business of government."

None of these moves would even remotely impact the average American (other than to begin to reduce the deficit and grow the economy).  What are the chances of this administration even considering one of these ideas?

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This page contains a single entry by Granny G published on July 5, 2010 3:11 PM.

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