Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Credit...and a Caution
You have to give the Bushies credit for taking on farm subsidies in the new budget. This federal program has become the biggest corporate welfare boondoggle of all time and most payments to large corporate farms. It also provides an incentive to overproduce -- thus depressing the market price for the crops -- because it pays for every acre planted.
The effort to curtail the waste will meet stiff resistance from midwestern lawmakers and chances are that no changes will be made. But you have to give them credit for trying.
However, the notion that the budget can be significantly trimmed through cuts in discretionary spending is pure fantasy. Approximately half of the current deficit can be linked to W's tax cuts. They should be repealed at least until the war is paid for and the deficit is back under control. We'll have to wait for a Dem administration to get that to happen.
The effort to curtail the waste will meet stiff resistance from midwestern lawmakers and chances are that no changes will be made. But you have to give them credit for trying.
However, the notion that the budget can be significantly trimmed through cuts in discretionary spending is pure fantasy. Approximately half of the current deficit can be linked to W's tax cuts. They should be repealed at least until the war is paid for and the deficit is back under control. We'll have to wait for a Dem administration to get that to happen.
