The Role of Government - Part III

Based upon my last post, I'd like to announce the budgetary line items I would cut back on to shore up the Federal Budget:

I'm not going to touch the "Mandatory Spending" category of the Federal Budget, although I'm strongly against the Government managing our retirement plan and forcing us to opt in. I believe that individuals such as myself, who already contribute the maximum amount to their respective 401k plans, could better plan for our own individual retirements than the government - I believe that the government should allow us to opt out of their plan and allow ourselves to divert those monies to a retirement plan of our choosing, if any at all. The money that the Government collects to plan for your retirement actually may end up making your latter years less comfortable - you may be able to afford to buy a house now if you had access to such monies which would help alleviate the financial difficulties encountered in your latter years of life. The bottom line is, Government should have never established such a disastrous monstrosity of a program which occupies 30% of the federal budget.

Department of Defense - http://www.defenselink.mil/ - it's no secret that this line item contains a lot of "Pork." The DoD is buying and researching various weapons that are not defensive in nature. Approximately 50% of this budget could be trimmed.

Global War on Terror - the stated purpose of the "Global War on Terror" is to somehow convince "evildoers" and terrorist groups around the world to end their aggression through our own violent military action. I would immediately withdraw forces and reduce all expenditures associated with this budgetary item.

Health and Human Services - www.hhs.gov - The HHS is "United States government's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves." I don't want to come off as a Scrooge here, but here in lies a lot of pork. First off, it doesn't provide any value to individuals such as myself. However, I don't mind helping the poor - even though in this case it's is forced charity through our tax dollars a la Robin Hood. One particular department which would face my cross hairs would be the FDA. This useless organizations recklessly delays the entry of life saving drugs by subjecting pharmaceutical companies to go through an expensive period of trial and testing that smaller drug companies can seldom afford. This organization actually plays into the hands of larger drug companies that can afford to undertake such testing, and they usually are able to pass through drugs quickly while smaller companies face an uphill battle. The FDA needlessly curtails a Doctor's ability to prescribe medication that could be life saving.

Department of Education - www.ed.gov - I would immediately shutter this useless department. The DoE provides little if any value to Americans. The State provides us with all the access to education that we need and currently use, the Federal Government doesn't have to get involved. I'd rather spend my tax dollars towards State based programs where I can immediately benefit from.

US Department of Housing and Urban Development - www.hud.gov - I can't even figure out what these guys do, but it's clearly useless. We don't need a government agency managing housing and loans to Americans. The free market should handle loans, and the state, if necessary, should handle their own housing initiatives.

Energy - www.doe.gov - we don't need an obscure government agency trying to ensure America’s energy security through reliable, clean, and affordable energy." I wonder what a day in the life of an employee in this Government agency looks like?

Department of Agriculture - www.usda.gov - There's a lot of uselessness in this department. Even though I'd argue for the complete shuttering of the agency, I'd lose the argument on some of the food inspection functions they fulfill. But as far as some of the other departments that fall under this banner go, they can be completely eliminated. "Agricultural Marketing Service, Center for Nutrition and Policy, Rural Development" can get the boot.

$51.8 billion (+9.7%) - Other On-budget Discretionary Spending
$39.0 billion - Other Off-budget Discretionary Spending

There would be no "Discretionary Spending" if I was in charge, period. Just the name of these two budgetary line items indicates its laden with lard, and can completely be trimmed. Various ridiculous government funding is funneled through this line item, including the following:

$107,000 to study the sex life of the Japanese quail.
$1.2 million to study the breeding habits of the woodchuck.
$150,000 to study the Hatfield-McCoy feud.
$84,000 to find out why people fall in love.
$1 million to study why people don't ride bikes to work.
$19 million to examine gas emissions from cow flatulence.
$144,000 to see if pigeons follow human economic laws.
Funds to study the cause of rudeness on tennis courts and examine smiling patterns in bowling alleys.
$219,000 to teach college students how to watch television.
$2 million to construct an ancient Hawaiian canoe.
$20 million for a demonstration project to build wooden bridges.
$160,000 to study if you can hex an opponent by drawing an X on his chest.
$800,000 for a restroom on Mt. McKinley.
$100,000 to study how to avoid falling spacecraft.
$16,000 to study the operation of the komungo, a Korean stringed instrument.
$1 million to preserve a sewer in Trenton, NJ, as a historic monument.
$6,000 for a document on Worcestershire sauce.
$10,000 to study the effect of naval communications on a bull's potency.
$100,000 to research soybean-based ink.
$1 million for a Seafood Consumer Center.
$57,000 spent by the Executive Branch for gold-embossed playing cards on Air Force Two.

More examples are available here: http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reports_pigbook2008
The bottom line is, people know better than government how to spend their money. Congress is spending money that's not theirs to spend. People need to understand that the nation's tax revenue system isn't some kind of free money slush fund that can be freely spent, it's your money - they shoudl treat it as such.