The Holes In The Bucket and the Core Mission

As we do the collective 'tighten up' (remember that old song) - We're not moving fast enough on plugging some of the big holes in the bucket..

1) The WAR(s). Is this just the big elephant in the room or what? OK so we've got to shoot Taliban for awhile yet- let me at that military budget with my eraser though and I'll find the American people another 100 billion or so.. let's buy a fleet of predators and bring most of our boys home. Who really cares how Pakistan whines, as long as we keep giving them aid.

Obama is going to make a big deal about mortgage mitigation with 50 billion or so-- finally some relief (we hope). This should probably be allot more like 200 billion bub-- but no, we've got to keep propping up the Iraqis etc.. who are all going to shoot one another and blow one another up as soon as we leave.. Can we get free oil from them or something?

2) Chinese Trade. Did you see that beautiful Chinese Olympic Stadium. We paid for it. What isn't made in China these days? I say yes to protectionism-- for our 'most favored trading partner', or just a few tariffs until our trade accounts balance- surely they want 'fair trade' right? Whose economy has grown by 8-10% over the past 15 years, while ours did what?
This is not watching the basket at a criminal level. Can Obama find a Chinese American to be our head trade negotiator please? This could be good for at least thirty or forty billion.

3) Remittances from Illegal Aliens. Just so you don't brand me as a prejudiced bastard, I have a Mexican Fiancee and a house in Mexico and I do a lot of work there and have a second office there-- all that being said, here's what I really think- It would be one thing if people who made money under the table, spent it here in the USA. When it gets sent home to Mexico,Guatemala, Honduras etc. it's gone --and we can't tax it. If we want to get some revenue from the 12 million or so illegals who send allot of money home- why not ask the ones that can't produce a legal visa to pay say, a 30% tax on however much they are sending out of the country? If frosts me that my own bank may hold an out of state deposit from me for a week, and report all my big deposits to the IRS while an illegal without documentation can walk into the same bank, cash a check (for a $5. fee) and then send money home tax free. Our Federal Post Offices have Western Union money transfers for God's sake-! We are facilitating this money leaving our economy without taxing it! This might be the fair way to let these folks- who are already here anyway- pay their fair share. Maybe it's only ten billion or so..

4) How about a year or two of cutting foreign aid by 75%? Let's let these countries stand on their own two feet for a little while. What are they going to say? Oh, we hate you now, regardless of all that help you gave us in the past. If the US economy crashes harder, they're going to get cut off anyway. Is there no one else in the world that reach in their pockets and give something too? This should be good for twenty billion or so.

5) Too bad about Obama's Government Efficiency Expert not making it to the party. He'd better get another one (or ten). If the average American can cut their expensive cable TV channels and food budget there have got to be all kinds of government departments and programs we can just flat out get rid of. "Mr. President- I'll volunteer my eraser.. " I had the idea of each government department and program going through a citizen review (12 citizens chosen at random) who review the core mission of the department and how well they are fulfilling it. Funding needs to start with the assumptions that the department has fulfilled their core mission 99% before they are allowed to add additional programs or funding.

(I know I'm dreaming but we've got to get back to some kind of reality here).

Send me your ideas... and keep them coming.