Slash the Budget, Don’t Sequester It

For the past couple weeks, and months before, the headlines have been filled with a discussion of how Congress has set up a plan to put automatic cross-the-board cuts into effect on Friday, March 1, 2013. In typical fashion the members of Congress are whining about how the other party is to blame. To make matters worse they gave it one of the worst sounding names possible, sequestration. So, how much are they cutting? We’re talking a whopping $85 billion. Sounds like how much a guy like Bill Gates is worth. Why don’t they just ask him to cover it. Sure beats whining.

Stop the whining!

In reality it doesn’t amount to much. At today’s over-inflated costs the government can barely scrape by with a couple dozen fighter jets, a few aircraft carriers, and maybe one wing of the Pentagon or a few CIA outposts for that pittance. On the domestic scene, eliminate funding university research on such useless programs as a cure for cancer or diabetes, or refuse to provide military pensions. But, the question really shouldn’t be what to cut. That’s just too whimpy.

We need to slash the budget of every section of government throughout the land. Face it, the idea of government as a force for good was something dreamt up by an Ivy League professor to give his students something to fret over at a symposium he billed to the government. Let’s face it, we would all be a lot better off without Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. A few years without those bills and we could start to pay off some of that $16 trillion in debt. Sell a few of those National Parks to the Chinese or Indians and we might not have to worry about what to slash.

The few, the proud, the Arnamaforce.

Actually, I am quite sure instead of looking to cut a mere $85 billion from the current budget, Congress should look for ways to run the whole government for $85 billion. As a retired teacher I have come to realize my friends who say public education is a complete waste actually make sense. Eliminate public education. The rich will always find someone to teach their kids, and if the poor want their kids to learn they can track down an out of work teacher at minimum wage.

Scalpel, not axe...get it?

Without a doubt we can do with a smaller military. What’s with all those branches? Think of all the money that could be saved if we just sent all of them to one academy. Every one knows the Army-Navy game is about as boring as it gets, and they know once they graduate they’re supposed to be on the same side anyway. The rivalry is just avoiding the inevitable. Considering how many out of work military officers there would be once resources were consolidated the opportunity to run the whole program efficiently for about $20 billion seems reasonable.

Now, I know that many people think that what I have outlined here by slashing the budget will create catastrophic problems for many who cannot adapt to these austere measures. Some cling to President Obama’s metaphor of using a scalpel instead of an axe to make intelligent decisions regarding what to cut. But, look where intelligent decisions have taken us. It’s time to slash!