Name one profit making business that has not trimmed its overall numbers when times get tough.
Sounds like GM.
The difference in pay for government employees vs. the private sector is insulting to the core.
The private sector has, for the most part, adjusted budgets inline with the recession. The public sector has done just the opposite - increased spending as tax receipts declined. This “government bubble” will burst, it will be on The Kenyan’s watch, and it will be fugly.
Same thing for SS, Granny can't very well complain that her SS benefits are smaller when the number of dollars she gets is much higher, even if the new number has 1/10th the buying power. Obviously it's her own damm fault that she can't budget effectively.
And Welfare Queens? Well, pretty hard to complain when everyone's a millionaire!
Here is another money saving idea cut foreign aid to the following countries:
Below are the actual voting records of various Arabic/Islamic States which are recorded in both the US State Department and United Nations records:
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> Kuwait votes against the United States 67% of the time
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> Qatar votes against the United States 67% of the time
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> Morocco votes against the United States 70% of the time
> United Arab Emirates votes against the U. S. 70% of the time.
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> Jordan votes against the United States 71% of the time.
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> Tunisia votes against the United States 71% of the time.
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> Saudi Arabia votes against the United States 73% of the time..
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> Yemen votes against the United States 74% of the time.
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> Algeria votes against the United States 74% of the time.
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> Oman votes against the United States 74% of the time.
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> Sudan votes against the United States 75% of the time.
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> Pakistan votes against the United States 75% of the time.
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> Libya votes against the United States 76% of the time.
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> Egypt votes against the United States 79% of the time.
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> Lebanon votes against the United States 80% of the time.
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> India votes against the United States 81% of the time.
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> Syria votes against the United States 84% of the time.
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> Mauritania votes against the United States 87% of the time.
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> U S Foreign Aid to those that hate us:
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> Egypt, for example, after voting 79% of the time against the United States, still receives $2 billion annually in US Foreign Aid.
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> Jordan votes 71% against the United States
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> And receives $192,814,000 annually in US Foreign Aid..
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> Pakistan votes 75% against the United States
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> Receives $6,721,000 annually in US Foreign Aid.
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> India votes 81% against the United States
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> Receives $143,699,000 annually.
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> Perhaps it is time to get out of the UN and give the tax savings back to the American workers who are having to skimp and sacrifice to pay the taxes (and gasoline).
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I think to make it fair EVERY government expenditure needs to be cut 10%. Welfare, roads, congress, president, the only thing left untouched would be defense.
Include Congress and the Executive Branch in the 10% cut.
Nobody likes to see anyone's pay cut. But a whole lot of private companies, my own among them, cut pay a minimum of 5% and a maximum in come cases of 30%. In this time of massive budget cuts it's only fair that federal employees take a hit.
They also need to end the practice of allowing people to pad their last year of work salary with overtime in order to double what they get in government retirement benefits.
And cut entitlements for those that are able to work or that are addicted to drugs. Also, relook at foreign aid. Those that don’t like us get cut off. I bet we save lots of cash that way.
Publish the salaries/total compensation of local government employees. This should be a requirement in every town, city, and state.
Ancient Rome didn’t scale back their bureaucracy and it bankrupted them. China was a superpower 1000 years ago and their bureaucrats - the Mandarins - became too large and did in the country. America is definitely on course to see the same.
A cut of 10% is a savings of 15 Billion dollars, that is not chicken feed, as you implied.
Its more the outrageous pension and other post retirement benefits packages than salaries, IMO. Even though for some titles salary packages are too high also.
Very rare to be able to retire in the private sector with a guaranteed pension. Some people can vest in as few as 20 years (cops mainly) or 25 years (teachers) and then get paid pensions for life, usually with COLAs too.
Sweet deal. Work 20 or 25 years, and then get paid for another 30 or more, almost all on the taxpayer’s dime.
And that doesn’t even include the post retirment medical benefits. We are creating many public sector millionaires, because that is what their fat retirement packages are worth.
And cut the lavish benefits, too. Make their cars taxable. End the government pension and put them on social security. Allow them to participate in a supplemental 401k if they wish. No early retirement. End “multiple pensions;” all time in Federal employment goes into social security and that’s it. Have them enroll in HSA’s for health care.
An example: As pro tem judge back in the late 1980s I heard a divorce case involving a former federal employee. He had served in the US Army and Reserves 10 years, then served in the Navy Reserves 15 years, while working at Naval Avionics as a civilian employee, from which he retired with full pension at age 55. He was getting four pension checks a month, totaling over $5000,00, plus full medical care. What was his job at Naval Avionics?
He was a janitor.
I seem to remember that NObama gave ALL Federal workers a cost of living wage increase last year, then shortly thereafter, announced that all Social Security was being frozen thru 2010 + 2011 because there was “NO INCREASE in the cost of living!!!
The authors are making the same mistake we have made for 70 years! A 10% pay cut is a feel good action trying to fix a 40% problem. The only solution is to close completely the numerous failed departments and fire all their useless employees. No other path will solve the problem. Besides being unconstitutional, unnecessary and totally ineffective I can not think of another thing to say about the likes of the Department of Energy, Education, HUD, etc.
Reduce non-military workforce by 30% across the board.
CUT pay 30% for remaining staffers.
NO early retirement options offered.
GARNISH all pay to collect past-due taxes, child support, student loans and immigrant sponsorship liabilities.
After completing that her first day in office, President Palin continued reducing the size of government by . . .