Sen. Claire McCaskill is asking Missourians to give their input on what priorities we should have when it comes to the national budget. From her newsletter:
It is time for the tough choices on budget cuts.
I’m not going to mince words or try to sugarcoat it -- just like millions of Americans in this tough economy, Congress and the president have to bite the bullet and work together to get our $1.5 trillion budget deficit under control.
President Obama's new budget reflects our new economic reality -- it includes some cuts, and avoids others. However, I’m not sure it goes far enough.
But, I do agree with the president that just because we have to make big cuts doesn’t mean we have to take a hacksaw to everything. Now is the time to get our priorities straight. And it's important that we don't make essentially all the cuts in the smallest parts of the budget -- as the Republicans in the House have done.
What do you think should be at the top of the "protect list"?
Corporate Tax Breaks and Subsidies ($116 billion in budget)
Education ($77.4 billion in budget)
Foreign Aid ($50.9 billion in budget)
Funding for the Arts and Sciences ($8.759 billion in budget)
Homeland Security ($43.2 billion in budget)
Medicare ($485 billion in budget)
Military and Defense Programs ($703 billion in budget)
Social Security ($12.7 billion in budget -- note, this does not include the money Americans pay into the Social Security Trust Fund that is used to pay beneficiaries; this only includes the general revenue funds dedicated to certain annual Social Security costs, such as administrative expenses)
We no longer have the luxury of easy choices on budget cuts, but we simply have to suck it up and make the call. We can’t just keep kicking this can down the road.
Now, as we get ready for the budget fight, I’d like to hear from you: We’ve got big cuts coming -- and lots of programs will take at least a small hit.
What do you think we should do our best to protect? What is the top priority on your "protect list"?
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me -- we have some tough debates and tough choices ahead of us, and knowing what you think helps me immeasurably.
1 comment:
Well, the obvious are the corporate subsidies and tax breaks, followed by trimming the defense budget. The rest of the stuff, small cuts, but nothing major. And I believe the corporate tax/subsidies and defense budget should be cut gradually, not all at once, to lessen the pain. At the same time, the U.S. has another option that should become a way to get out of this mess - we could add a "value added tax" to most purchases and get out of this fairly quickly, plus pay for our health care issues - it is time for universal health care for all like they have in most other countries.
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