Can we balance the budget just by cutting pork?

[TheFarseer]

If we really got to work to find and eliminate all wasteful programs, could we find over half a trillion dollars to cut and balance the budget NEXT YEAR? Just curious what people think.

[rasputin1952]

1. Balancing the bugdet will take more than just cutting pork...

and some "pork" is beneficial to communities as a whole.

I am not sying that pork is good for the nation as a whole, but some of the items that in pork are vital to how communities run.

The way to balance the budget is to raise revenue, cut superflulous spending ansd get in line with a serious spending bill.

I doubt that Congress can up with a decent set of bills, but they could at least try.

[ComerPerro]

2. Depends what they want to classify as pork

[patdem]

3. No, seems we BUSTED THE BUDGET by cutting the funds for NOLA

levees...some could call that pork...or cutting heating help to the poor in the year heating costs will soar almost 50%..I think we should cut some of the outlandish highway bill and raise taxes on the wealthy...JMHO!

[napi21]

4. The Pubs have put the US in a similar position as a person who

was earning $250,000/yr and was forced to take a job earning $45,000. The $45,000 isn't a poverty wage, but it simply can't support the lifestyle, and commitments he made prior to the paycut!

The US too a BIG paycut when Shrub & the Pubs gave those high tax cuts mostly to their friends. THEN, they decided they wanted to buy an expensive war on top of that! In addition to that, hurricanes caused big, unforeseen costs (just like an unforseen illness does to an individual family) to be added to an already large debt.

If the US was an individual, or a corp, the only possible answer would be bankruptcy!!!!

[TheFarseer]

7. I have heard on some RW radio shows

that our revenues are actually increasing. Now, they failed to elaborate so that might mean in 2004 over 2003(which doesn't seem an outlandish claim) or since bush took office (which might be possible given rising population but seems unlikely) or it could just be BS. Just so people know that line is out there. . . . . . .

[Deja Q]

5. And corporate subsidies (aka "corporate welfare")

It's amazing how much fortune 500 and forbes-friendly companies get...

[catnhatnh]

6. Is pork larger than ever-yes...

...that said merely cutting pork ain't gonna get it. 256 mil for a bridge to aid 50 residents on an island in Alaska isn't JACK compared to the raid our wallets taken.Think several TRILLIONS in combined tax cuts for corporations and the richest 1%.Think a quarter billion for Iraq.Think a quarter billion for New Orleans. Now,which of the 3 really matters....When corporations with 10s of BILLIONS of dollars in profits use tax schemes to avoid paying even marginal tax rates it doesn't take long for the wheels to come off the wagon...Where Clinton/Gore types still in charge we would be running a large enough SURPLUS to pay off New Orleans without breaking into a sweat...