Dear Mitt

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/how-not- ... -programs/

"Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney recently gave the following response to a reporter’s question on what programs he would cut:

Of course you get rid of Obamacare, that’s the easy one, but there are others: Planned Parenthood, we’re gonna get rid of that. The subsidy for Amtrak, I would eliminate that. The National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, both excellent programs, but we can’t afford to borrow money to pay for these things.

It’s good that Romney can actually name federal programs that he would terminate (even if they’re relatively small programs). But how on earth does he expect to garner support from Congress to terminate the NEA and NEH after having called them “excellent programs”? Sorry, but the “federal government is broke” argument won’t get the job done. In fact, it’s just a cop out that Republican politicians often use to avoid having to provide a coherent, principled justification for spending cuts."


http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/node?page=1

Looking at that graph, what's that blue elephant in the room nobody seems to notice?

Triage. No one on the left seems to understand this. It is better to saddle our kids with trillions in debt. Rather than eliminate the cowboy poetry subsidy.

I don't get it,' entitlements" were paid for, if not enough , not my fault. Charge the real cost to reflect the value. Opt out fine with me. I only want choice. I can buy Govt. bonds if I want lower return with less risk. Why not allow me to buy gov medicare early if I pay?

I'm SO impressed by a phony chart from the CATO Institute... Let me catch my breath.

LadyJazzer wrote: I'm SO impressed by a phony chart from the CATO Institute... Let me catch my breath.

See what I am saying. LJ thinks we have plenty of money. SS will never go broke. But the worst part about this spending epidemic? The current house Republicans are more concerned with cutting taxes than spending.

Is that net entitlement spending? what does it include? If SS is on there is it the net after what the gov't takes in in SS tax? If Medicare is on there.....is it the net after what the government collects in medicare tax and premiums? Gotta love a big blue bucket called entitlements without explanation.

archer wrote: Is that net entitlement spending? what does it include? If SS is on there is it the net after what the gov't takes in in SS tax? If Medicare is on there.....is it the net after what the government collects in medicare tax and premiums? Gotta love a big blue bucket called entitlements without explanation.

Exactly... SS & Medicare ARE paid for... Some nebulous chart from CATO telling the Kool-Aid drinkers that it isn't is one of those :Snooze moments.

The CATO graph is based on real data. The graph shows just what it says, government spending as a share of GDP. The graph does not include government income so it does not show taxes collected to pay for defense or discretionary spending any more than it shows taxes or premiums collected for Medicare and Social Security.

Entitlement spending is also often called mandatory spending. Again, it includes Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and I think EITC. "Mandatory spending encompasses spending on entitlement programs and spending controlled by laws other than annual appropriation acts."

This link shows pretty much the same CBO data (different categories) and they label entitlement spending as mandatory spending (you see the same peak in 2009)...

http://stats.areppim.com/stats/stats_usxoutlaysxgdp.htm

In general, if you look at spending percentages as part of the total federal spending, defense generally runs about 20%, Social Security 20%, and Medicare/Medicaid 20%.

Mitt would be the Stepford Prez, No heart or soul. Programed to fail.