[Puddleglum]

How to cut the budget:

No farm subsidies
No Department of Education
No War on Drugs
No Government healthcare (except for soldiers)
No student loan program
No heating or A/C for the Capitol

[BulletBobCo]

How to cut the budget: No farm subsidies No Department of Education No War on Drugs No Government healthcare (except for soldiers) No student loan program No heating or A/C for the Capitol

Also....No pay increases to Congress.

[MadIvan]

I'd go further -

1. Get rid of the Department of Education - privatise the entire system and grant vouchers to the poor.
2. Privatise Social Security for anyone new, raise the retirement age, means test anyone who is in it now.
3. Get rid of the Department of Energy.
4. Get rid of the Department of Agriculture.
5. Get rid of the Department of Transportation; make all roads toll roads.
6. Get rid of Housing and Urban Development; oi, mayors, want new housing, relax the planning laws!
7. Get rid of Medicaid; give health insurance vouchers instead.
8. Means test Medicare; grant the same health insurance vouchers.
9. Privatise Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
10. Cut the entire foreign aid budget.
11. The war on drugs to be ended - drug users to be denied health insurance vouchers.

The amount of screaming in Washington would take years to die down, but it would work. Furthermore, taxes could be slashed further.

Regards, Ivan

[Oct1967]

None of that is realistic and would be doomed to failure...this is why purists never win....ths solution is this:

Grow govt at a slower rate than nominal GDP (3% real plus 3% inflation is 6% nominal growth annually). Say grow govt at 3% annually, thus after 8 years Spending/GDP will fall from 22% where it is today to 18% of GDP in 8 years, making govt smaller than at anytime since 1958...before medicare and medicaid, before head start..etc etc...that's the best you can hope for