Why am I the only one on the planet who thinks that a budget that amounts to $9000 spent for every man, woman and child is INSANE? I know I'm not, but it sure seems that way sometimes.

Gidion

You can not measure the merit of the budget by expressing it as an amount spent per person. What in the correct Average?

If you look at the Budget you will see most of it goes for things that we can not avoid. Eliminating all the waste will not balance the budget. The fact is we cut taxes predicated on some non-existent Surplus that needed to be returned and created a structural deficit. When you cut your income and increases spending you get just what Bush has done. He had a BALANCED Budget in 2000. This is the same thing that took place during the 1980’s for the very same reasons.

Col, I CAN measure in the amount of spending. It is gross inefficiency.

It's not just what the money is spent on, but HOW it is spent within those agencies. I can tell you firsthand that the foodstamp threshhold (for families, not individuals) is set FAR too high...and the amounts received are WAY too much. I feed my family on less than $300 a month. If I were working minimum wage, I could receive more than TWICE that total in food stamps.

School spending is another area. I know of a school district that was spending $1200 per year per student on curriculum. I can get a high quality curriculum for about $200; but a variety of choices are available for under $500.

The fact is, our government is bloated, Col, and it has no interest in cutting spending. And it's not a partisan; both Democrats and Republicans are equally culpable. We need to cut spending DRASTICALLY before we even CONSIDER raising taxes.

Gideon

My son is disabled and receives Food Stamps. He receives the grand sum of $660 per month from SS Disability and gets $70 per month for Food Stamps. If you believe either the amount he receives from Food Stamps or disability is lavish you must be living in a different country then the United States.

Most of the funding for schools comes from local & State taxes and has nothing to do with the Federal deficit.

Here is what the Fed spends our tax dollars on and you can not cut anything close to what is needed to balance the Federal Budget.


http://www.federalbudget.com/

Most of the funding for schools comes from local & State taxes and has nothing to do with the Federal deficit.

Your own link says you're full of it. Go look at the page. On there you will find a line called "Dept of Education". If school funding has nothing to do with the Fed deficit, then why is it listed as part of it?

Lets hear you talk your way out of this one.

drmiler

You show your ignorance with each word you write. Have you looked at how small a portion of the Federal Budget that is? The Total Funding for education from the Federal Government is $61 Billion out of a total budget of $2.2 Trillion which is less then 3% of the federal budget. In Most school districts the federal money paid for remedial math and reading and makes up about 7% of school district budgets. That means 93% of the money for school districts comes from LOCAL and STATE MONEY!

I know this is correct since I was the Chief Operating Officer for the third largest school district in Pennsylvania for over 12 years. One of my responsibilities was the financial management of the district including the budget which was over $125 Million dollars in my last year with the district.

drmiler You show your ignorance with each word you write. Have you looked at how small a portion of the Federal Budget that is? The Total Funding for education from the Federal Government is $61 Billion out of a total budget of $2.2 Trillion which is less then 3% of the federal budget. In Most school districts the federal money paid for remedial math and reading and makes up about 7% of school district budgets. That means 93% of the money for school districts comes from LOCAL and STATE MONEY!

No! You show "YOUR" ignorance! You made a blanket statement, and I quote "Most of the funding for schools comes from local & State taxes and has nothing to do with the Federal deficit." end quote. "If" it had nothing to do with the federal deficit then "why" is it even mentioned on the page you linked? Small a portion? According to "you", it should be zero!

I don't care if you were in charge of the "largest" school district in PA or not. It makes "no" difference to the point I'm making. You're "still" wrong!

I see you're "still" at it. When you start losing the arguement, you abandon the thread. Coward!

drmiler

What is wrong with you. The total amount spent for education by the Fed is $61Billion. We had a deficit of $600Billion. It is sad when someone can not even read a graph!

drmiler What is wrong with you. The total amount spent for education by the Fed is $61Billion. We had a deficit of $600Billion. It is sad when someone can not even read a graph!

What is wrong with YOU? You stated that the Dept of Education had NOTHING to do with the deficit! And with "your" own link I proved that statement WRONG! It's a sad day indeed when you can't even admit to a wrong statement!

Most of the funding for schools comes from local & State taxes and has nothing to do with the Federal deficit.

You have "still" NOT explained your way out of this stupid statement.

drmiler

In 2000 when the budget was balanced we were spending a similar amount on Education by the Federal Government. How is it that the budget was balanced in 2000 with our spending for education? The reason the budget is not balanced is the Bush tax cuts together with increased spending in Iraq, Homeland Security, Interest on the growing debt and record high PORK etc.

drmiler In 2000 when the budget was balanced we were spending a similar amount on Education by the Federal Government. How is it that the budget was balanced in 2000 with our spending for education? The reason the budget is not balanced is the Bush tax cuts together with increased spending in Iraq, Homeland Security, Interest on the growing debt and record high PORK etc.

You are STILL dancing around what I said without admiting to the truth of it! Education IS part of the deficit. This has nothing to do with the budget balancing. "If" it's part of the budget....it's "part" of the deficit. "Your" Very own statement Makes the following quote an error at best, or a lie at worst.

Most of the funding for schools comes from local & State taxes and has nothing to do with the Federal deficit.

This is "your" statement btw....not mine.

drmiler

Every thing in the budget is part of what we spend. We are spending MORE then we Tax. You can point to anything in the budget that is part of the deficit. My point is that education spending was taking place even when the budget was balanced. In 2000 we were not spending over $100 Billion on a War. We were not spending as much on Homeland security. We were not spending as much on PORK. The spending on Education DID NOT create the current deficit.

The issue is that we SPEND more then we TAX. That must STOP and it will require BOTH spending cuts and ADDED Federal Tax Revenue!

drmiler Every thing in the budget is part of what we spend. We are spending MORE then we Tax. You can point to anything in the budget that is part of the deficit. My point is that education spending was taking place even when the budget was balanced. In 2000 we were not spending over $100 Billion on a War. We were not spending as much on Homeland security. We were not spending as much on PORK. The spending on Education DID NOT create the current deficit. The issue is that we SPEND more then we TAX. That must STOP and it will require BOTH spending cuts and ADDED Federal Tax Revenue!

Then "retract" your original ignorant statement.

Most of the funding for schools comes from local & State taxes and has nothing to do with the Federal deficit.