Posted on 01/17/2017 6:49:57 AM PST by Enlightened1
Making good on a promise to slash government, President-elect Trump has asked his incoming team to pursue spending and staffing cuts.
Insiders said that the spending reductions in some departments could go as high as 10 percent and staff cuts to 20 percent, numbers that would rock Washington if he follows through.
At least two so-called "landing teams" in Cabinet agencies have relayed the call for cuts as part of their marching orders to shrink the flab in government.
The cuts would target discretionary spending, not mandated programs such as Medicare or Social Security, the sources said.
The spending reductions are expected to be used to help pay for Trump's plan to boost the Pentagon's budget, tax cuts and some pet projects, potentially including the anti-immigration wall on the nation's southern border.
The teams also are looking at staffing cuts over four years through attrition, a hiring freeze and reorganization.
The plan is winning cheers in conservative, anti-tax and anti-spending corners in Washington that have long sought massive cuts in the bureaucracy.
Presidents rarely cut spending, choosing freezes instead. In the meantime, federal spending has reached historic levels. Trump has picked a budget hawk, Rep. Mick Mulvaney, to head the Office of Management and Budget, a clear sign that spending cuts are a top priority.
Still, Trump is likely to face a wall of opposition from Democrats and federal unions who consider much of the federal workforce on their side.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
BTTT
WOO HOO! Go Trump!
Oh how I hope that this is true. The key to cutting spending is cutting federal workers. As long as you have millions of federal workers, they will figure out a way to spend money.
My only question is which Useful Idiot Republican will the press trot out to say how “reckless” these cuts are.
>>Still, Trump is likely to face a wall of opposition from Democrats and federal unions who consider much of the federal workforce on their side.<<
B
F
D
Lots of jobs can be cut without our even noticing any detriment in services.
Many fat-cat salaries need to be re-routed to other purposes. The true workers will keep their jobs.
10% spending cuts is a drop in the bucket. Try for 50%.
There might be an improvement in services. If people fear for their jobs they will perform better.
Even if he doesn’t get it all done...at least the subject came up and was examined. THAT’S infinitely better than the last eight LONG years.
Decimation, works every time.
Cut off was age 5 on Feb 1st...half way through the school year.
My granddaughter was a whole year older 5 Y 9 m when she started.
Head start is just a babysitting program...and proven to be of no benefit...except to .........
I thought 25% of the federal “workers” said that they were going to quit and move to Canada if Trump got elected. Trump shouldn’t have to fire anybody.
Building the wall is not a “pet project.” It is an essential part of national defense.
The purge of OBuggery’s minions begins.
https://www.thebalance.com/off-budget-definition-and-examples-3305951
Definition: Off-budget is the revenue and spending of certain Federal entities that Congress wants to protect from the normal budget process. “On-budget” includes these entities, and is the total amount reported in the Federal “unified” budget. Off-budget spending is excluded from budget caps, sequestration, and pay-as-you-go requirements.
Examples
The three main entities that are off-budget are the Social Security Trust Fund, the U.S. Postal Service, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Social Security has been funded by payroll taxes since 1937. By 1962, there were more Baby Boomers working than there were retirees needing benefits. This meant the Fund had more than enough money to cover its costs. It invested the surplus in special Treasury bonds that paid a guaranteed return.
This was done off-budget. Otherwise, all that revenue would have made it look like the government was flush with cash, and Congress would have spent it all. There would have been none left to fund Social Security benefits when the Boomers retired.
However, calling the revenue off-budget didn't really protect it. Instead, Congress worked with two budgets. The real budget was the unified, which included off-budget items like the Social Security tax revenue. The official budget was the on-budget, which didn't include Social Security revenue. Instead, Congress ran a what looked like a deficit, but which was actually funded by Social Security.
Payroll tax receipts that go into the Social Security Trust Fund are considered “off-budget”, but are nevertheless used as revenue in the unified budget.
http://www.cagw.org/content/baseline-budgeting
BASELINE BUDGETING
“Baseline budgeting” is one of those Washington terms that sounds very dry and boring. In reality, baseline budgeting is one of the most sinister ways that politicians claim to cut spending when they are actually increasing spending. The Congressional Budget Office defines the baseline as a benchmark for measuring the budgetary effects of proposed changes in federal revenue or spending, with the assumption that current budgetary policies or current services are continued without change. The baseline includes automatic adjustments for inflation and anticipated increases in program participation. Baseline, or current services, budgeting, therefore builds automatic, future spending increases into Congress's budgetary forecasts.
As long as you have millions of federal workers, they will figure out a way to spend money.
*************
Precisely right. They are very creative when it comes to dreaming up new projects and then growing them into massive federal programs. There is never enough money for the voracious bureaucracy. It’s all about them; not the citizens.
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