Congress is currently trying to figure out
why the US is now facing a $160 billion dollar budget shortfall this year.
The Republicans are blaming the war, September 11, and the fact that the economy is doing about as well as a Yugo dragging a yacht up Pike’s Peak, while the Democrats (quelle surprise) are blaming the Bush tax cut.
Let’s see here, a tax cut that’s not even really taken effect yet and won’t for another decade, or the most destructive attack on America since Pearl Harbor. Which one sounds like the most logical cause to you? What party sounds like it’s dragging out partisanship above common sense again? The answers should be pretty damn obvious.
If we were really serious about shedding the deficit, there is almost positively $160 billion worth of fat that could be cut. Amtrak might be a good start. Cutting aid to the Saudis would save quite a few dimes. Passing Homeland Security and then cutting the fat from the former individual agencies would probably add up to a few billion right there.
Then again, it’s not about making cuts or sacrfices for politicians – it’s about how much federal largesse they can bring back home to get re-elected. If Congress wants to know why we’re in the hole, they should look in a mirror.
