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 ...
Personnel costs are “small potatoes”?
Perhaps...
But, while we sort that out, let’s have:
1. A hiring freeze.
2. A freeze on hiring “consultants”.
3. A freeze on building, renting or “studying” new space for government offices.
3. A freeze on government “grants” to “academia”, NGOs, charities, for profit businesses and “the arts”.
4. A cut in our “contributions to the UN.
If I could be a benevolent dictator for a few years, one of the “programs” I would shut down is feeding kids at school.
Since when is it the taxpayer’s job to feed kids? We never had these programs when I went to school. It needs to be stopped, forcing parents to take care of their own kids. It’s one of those programs that will only expand, once started. Like Newt said, it’s like throwing chunks of fish in the water to feed the dolphins. Pretty soon you have ten times more dolphins and they no longer bother to find their own food.
If certain neighbourhoods needs to assist people, let the parents get involved with the local churches. That way there’s at least some accountability.
And most Republicans as well. Everybody in Congress loves to talk about cutting spending until it's their favorite department that is being gutted.
This is what has to be done. Govt is too big. 25% reduction was my suggestion but I can live with 20% if they intend to go further later. Whole agencies need to be shuttered.
I’m fine with that but the biggest bang would be to close departments and agencies and NOT transfer their functions.
Bloat and mission creep needs to be restrained by law, otherwise it’ll be back as soon as Democrats regain control.
The cuts would target discretionary spending, not mandated programs such as Medicare or Social Security, the sources said.”
Those are the programs that need the cuts the most. The make up the vast majority of the federal budget and are full of waste and corruption.
I agree. I also believe the “earned” income credit needs to go. Why is it my job to underright someone’s pay??
ABOUT DAMN TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes this is why whole agencies need to be shut down.
You get it. Without touching those the shell game continues.
Actually higher than 10%. He wants spending cuts at 10% in addition to 20% cuts in personnel.
There are many small programs that might be cut, but the fact is, domestic discretionary spending has been trending down as a percentage of the budget for years. It is now down to 10 percent or less. The bulk of the spending and almost all the growth is in entitlements. Most of the rest is defense, which Trump (correctly) wants to increase, and debt service.
We cannot finance open-ended growth in entitlement spending by continuing to nickel and dime the 1001 mostly non-controversial things the federal government does, mostly quietly and in the background. Reagan, Gingrich, and Bush 43 all tried to tackle entitlements and failed. Trump apparently isn't even interested in trying. The congressional Republicans may give him an Obamacare repeal and replace bill that makes a dent in outyear health care costs. That's the only tangible thing on the horizon at the moment, and it's very much in doubt.
Many of the jobs have become “home office day” jobs, IOW, No Show jobs. I personally know a few who spend their days antique shopping with their friends, golfing, visiting relatives, meeting friends for lunch, etc......while they are collecting a salary. They attend seminars and give the same canned power point presentation about every six months just to be visible in the right circles.
Spending cuts across the board are a mistake. It makes it too easy for a successor to restore the spending, and it makes some agencies unable to effectively do their jobs.
I want a leader who is willing to determine what agencies are unnecessary and eliminate them. There are many, many Federal agencies that need to be eliminated, not just trimmed.
Instead of cutting the budget just freeze it for 10 years. Also an real budget and an accounting of where all the “stimulus “ money went. Real transparency for once. No more baseline spending.
What happens when Trump takes office and none of his cabinet has been confirmed?
Waiting for dems to resurrect the phrase “Draconian Cuts” that they got the MSM to parrot in the past.
Yes! Make it so, President Trump, make it so.
I guess the old man will have to make ALL the decisions. Too bad.
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