I don't see any solution to the Somali Pirates here.......

Maybe you should retitle the thread.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

seems their proposal involves cutting where it affects them the least. with the attitude of "I never use it so it can go" seems to be a model for the conservatives. Lets also note that the biggest cuts could and should be in military spending. Military spending currently costs us >$800 billion annually. Do we need to have a navy larger than the next 13 combined. 12 of these navies are supposedly our friends. and B2 bombers at $1Billion a pop is gone. there is so much waste. Do we really need strategic forces when we aren't likely to fight a strategic war ever again.

You want to cut public radio and television? how about decommisioning 1 B2 and double to funding for public radio and television? again the attitude of people that don't use something so it must be wasteful. sheesh thank for making a point that the gov't can serve the public good. As I've said before this is the shotgun method. throw so much stuff out there to defend that anything missed is a point against me not you. Tough luck I defend it all. Please defend the countries current defense spending

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

I'm absolutely for cutting military funding.

Did you know there are instances when the generals say they don't want it/can't use it/it's a waste of money but because it's produced in some senator's district (jobs for hundreds of people), it gets funded and the military is forced to use it even though it hinders their real mission because it takes away funding from the programs that are really wanted?

Are you aware of the game of spending everything you recieve, begging for more funding, and being ready to spend what ever "fallout" funding comes your way--is not only normal in the department of defense, but can get you a sub-standard proficiency report if you don't do everything you can to support this, which can prevent you from being promoted?

Are you aware of how much money goes into the so-called "black" programs? Which are un-accountable to the public because they're "classified?"

Again, YES, I'm *for* cutting military funding.

28 years in the U.S. Air Force. I just might know what the H E double hockey sticks I'm talking about.

What's your beef with black programs?

I'm absolutely for cutting military funding.

Did you know there are instances when the generals say they don't want it/can't use it/it's a waste of money but because it's produced in some senator's district (jobs for hundreds of people), it gets funded and the military is forced to use it even though it hinders their real mission because it takes away funding from the programs that are really wanted?

Are you aware of the game of spending everything you recieve, begging for more funding, and being ready to spend what ever "fallout" funding comes your way--is not only normal in the department of defense, but can get you a sub-standard proficiency report if you don't do everything you can to support this, which can prevent you from being promoted?

Are you aware of how much money goes into the so-called "black" programs? Which are un-accountable to the public because they're "classified?"

Again, YES, I'm *for* cutting military funding.

28 years in the U.S. Air Force. I just might know what the H E double hockey sticks I'm talking about.

What's your beef with black programs?

They are un-accountable to the public because they're "classified."

That's about all I'll say, until 68 more years have passed. But I probably won't live that long.

No, they're accountable, just not to the general public because of sources and methods involved which would be damaging to our well being. They're necessary just like other countries (Russia and China among others) that have black programs. Sorry if you'd like to unilaterally hobble us, but I'd expect better from former AF with 28 years in.

You want to see unaccountable, check out all the federal bureaucrats now making decisions in government through agencies. Suddenly, all these political figures are making big decisions and yet are unelectable appointees. That starts with 3 dozen czars and moves down into all the federal agencies (EPA, USDA, Commerce, treasury, justice, Interior, Energy, State, Labor, HHS, etc, etc, etc and all their little subdepartments) with hundreds of thousands of silly servants writing "policy" and issuing regulations at a whim. You want to talk about unaccountable?

BTW, the Health and Human Services budget is almost as big as our entire military budget.

All of these are run through UNELECTED bureaucrats, many appointed for life. Where the H E double hockey sticks did that start? Oh, and the budgets they swallow are orders of magnitude bigger than those black programs you speak of.

Again with the shotgun? heres the problem with your math. it innvolves T's B's and M's you show a lot of pointless M's to cut when we have T's that need cutting. How about showing me something meaningful. Thats like saying you won't by that extra bubblegum out of the machine because that 25cent savings is going to help pay your mortgage down. Its just not helping. In the Reagan years he played the same game and the states picked up the pieces. We don't have this luxury...

Did you miss the one where the fed is thinking about allowing states to go bankrupt. bailing on the pensions their employees had. Guess who picks up that tab. If you guess the Fed you are correct. If a corporation fails to fund or goes bankrupt the fed gets to be responsible for its pension. Thats a pretty sweet deal if you steal your employees pension and at some future date decide to bail on it and declare bankrutcy you don't have to pay the pension anymore.

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

To cut the debt:

Step one: get out of iraq. The politics have been a disaster for thousands of years, we never should have gone in, it will be a disaster when we leave. Get out now.

Step two: move those forces to Afghanistan. Clean up mop up, going into admittedly uncontrolled portions of pakistan, taking out our actual target.
End it.

Step three: pull back, take care of the veterans, (even with ample medical, soldiers work is greatly underpayed.) Keep enough military to go in quickly and efficiently to anywhere in the world radicals of any sort, Christan, Muslim,
whatever become a thorn.

Continue rebuilding the damage done to our nations reputation and credibility during the Dubya years.

And next time there is a surplus, do not let some brain dead moron pass around checks to try to buy everyones loyalty.

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Janice