New Website Challenges Americans to Balance The Budget

The Journal of Business ^ | Sept. 3, 2009

[Military family member]

Dallas, Texas – Finally, there is a centralized location for people to search, decipher, and discuss the myriad ways federal funds are allocated every year, and even control where their tax dollars go, line by line, as they try their hand at balancing the federal budget.

Launched Sept. 3, BalanceTheBudget.com is a virtual ‘town hall’ where concerned citizens and groups can share their ideas on balancing the budget, gather for news, review resources and tutorials, blog about budget solutions, and vent fiscal frustrations.

Using data provided by the Congressional Budget Office, BalanceTheBudget.com maps out the U.S. budget outlays, budget deficit, and total accumulated debt in a user-friendly format so even political neophytes can assimilate the data and make informed changes.

[Niuhuru]

It wouldn’t surprise me if someone managed to do so. I think we’re going to see a lot of idiot politicians get emails detailing how this or that citizen managed to figure out how to balance the national budget.

[Military family member]

I like the feature "Vote on the Pig of the Month"

I joined and voted for Murtha.

[BenLurkin]

When the father of our country was President there were four “cabinet level” officials. Today there are fourteen or more. (Many, and perhaps most of which are redundant to similar state agencies across the nation).

That means there are at least ten Federal Departments which need not and which probably , Constitutionally, NOT exist. Let's start by closing those down. That should go a long way towards balancing the budget.

[PGR88]

It is impossible to balance the US Budget.

The budget is mainly things that no politician is able to touch: interest on debt, entitlements like Soc. Sec. and Medicare/Medicaid are huge. Add Defense to that and it’s something like 70+% of the entire budget.

I see the end-game as being default.

[Military family member]

John Murtha (D-Pa): He is the Elvis of pork barrel spenders. Just the past two years alone this King of Pork has secured nearly 200 million dollars for the “John Murtha Airport” that serves under 10,000 passengers a year. This airport currently has a 5 year old radar station that has never been staffed. This man's pork is so legendary that his campaign slogan has been “bringing home the bacon”. True to his campaign Congressman Murtha brought home over 20 million dollars in the last omnibus budget bill. Like Don Young, Murtha considers it his job to bring home federal funds.

[Military family member]

I just finished reading the Mid-Session Report on the budget.

18.5% of the budget is something called “Non-Defense Discretionary Spending.”

[Jo Nuvark]

Mark

[unixfox]

That would be easy. Fire half the government leeches and make the other half take a drug/alcohol test and a background check. Anybody that fails, FIRE EM ON THE SPOT!

I could think of so many programs to get rid of, it would make your head explode.

[DRey]

Well, that was fun. Enlightening.