You have been elected President of the United States of America. One of your major platforms was to eliminate excess spending. Now you must follow through if you are to have a hope of reelection.
So how do you eliminate pork without pissing everybody in Washington off?
How Would You Eliminate Pork Barrel Spending?
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HemlockGrey
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How Would You Eliminate Pork Barrel Spending?
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"If more cars are inevitable, must there not be roads for them to run on?"
-Robert Moses
"The Wire" is the best show in the history of television. Watch it today.
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Wicked Pilot
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Re: How Would You Eliminate Pork Barrel Spending?
Um, I don't see that as a possibility. Anytime you cut spending, you piss people off. You just have to make sure your intentions are known before hand, and then start consistantly and fairly using your veto power.HemlockGrey wrote:So how do you eliminate pork without pissing everybody in Washington off?
The most basic assumption about the world is that it does not contradict itself.
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HemlockGrey
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How would you discourage it?
The End of Suburbia
"If more cars are inevitable, must there not be roads for them to run on?"
-Robert Moses
"The Wire" is the best show in the history of television. Watch it today.
"If more cars are inevitable, must there not be roads for them to run on?"
-Robert Moses
"The Wire" is the best show in the history of television. Watch it today.
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Dalton
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Legalize cocaine, so that all the top-level political fat cats don't have to skim so much off their budgets to pay for their habit.
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RedImperator
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Veto, veto, veto, and be prepared to lose the next election.
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Queeb Salaron
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I like pork. I say spend MORE on it.
Oh come on. You laughed.
Oh come on. You laughed.
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Fucking Funny.
G.A.L.E. Force - Bisexual Airborn Division
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"I hear and behold God in every object, yet I understand God not in the least, / Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself."
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Fucking Funny.
Use every bit of the bullypulpit to get the existing tax code tossed out and institute a flat tax or a national sales tax at a fixed rate and a extremely high bar to get over to raise the %. Then kiss my presidency good bye...
They say, "the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots." I suppose it never occurred to them that they are the tyrants, not the patriots. Those weapons are not being used to fight some kind of tyranny; they are bringing them to an event where people are getting together to talk. -Mike Wong
But as far as board culture in general, I do think that young male overaggression is a contributing factor to the general atmosphere of hostility. It's not SOS and the Mess throwing hand grenades all over the forum- Red
But as far as board culture in general, I do think that young male overaggression is a contributing factor to the general atmosphere of hostility. It's not SOS and the Mess throwing hand grenades all over the forum- Red
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Queeb Salaron
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Tell me you're joking. A Flat Tax will NEVER work. Economists have warned against it for YEARS.Knife wrote:Use every bit of the bullypulpit to get the existing tax code tossed out and institute a flat tax or a national sales tax at a fixed rate and a extremely high bar to get over to raise the %. Then kiss my presidency good bye...
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G.A.L.E. Force - Bisexual Airborn Division
SDnet Resident Psycho Clown
"I hear and behold God in every object, yet I understand God not in the least, / Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself."
--Whitman
Fucking Funny.
G.A.L.E. Force - Bisexual Airborn Division
SDnet Resident Psycho Clown
"I hear and behold God in every object, yet I understand God not in the least, / Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself."
--Whitman
Fucking Funny.
Sneak a few bills with loopholes through congress that'll allow me to have dictatorship powers. Use my new found powers to cut whatever I want and tell people to go fuck themselves if they don't like it. Congress will have me shot but at least I got the job done.
Lusankya: Deal!
Say, do you want it to be a threesome with your wife? Or a foursome with your wife and sister-in-law? I'm up for either.
Queeb Salaron wrote:Tell me you're joking. A Flat Tax will NEVER work. Economists have warned against it for YEARS.Knife wrote:Use every bit of the bullypulpit to get the existing tax code tossed out and institute a flat tax or a national sales tax at a fixed rate and a extremely high bar to get over to raise the %. Then kiss my presidency good bye...
With out all tha cash, the politicians can't waste it on pork barrel spending. Tossing out the existing tax code is the key, as to what replaces it? That still needs some debate, right now I would favor a national sales tax on non edible items.
They say, "the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots." I suppose it never occurred to them that they are the tyrants, not the patriots. Those weapons are not being used to fight some kind of tyranny; they are bringing them to an event where people are getting together to talk. -Mike Wong
But as far as board culture in general, I do think that young male overaggression is a contributing factor to the general atmosphere of hostility. It's not SOS and the Mess throwing hand grenades all over the forum- Red
But as far as board culture in general, I do think that young male overaggression is a contributing factor to the general atmosphere of hostility. It's not SOS and the Mess throwing hand grenades all over the forum- Red
Russia adopted a 13% flat tax on January 1, 2001. It exceeded revenue expectations.Queeb Salaron wrote: Tell me you're joking. A Flat Tax will NEVER work. Economists have warned against it for YEARS.
Note- I don't know anything about economics, just thought I'd throw that factoid out there.
(of course, considering that they adopted it AFTER the much darker days of the mid/late 90s, no smart ass remarks about yeah and look what happened can be made).
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GrandMasterTerwynn
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Re: How Would You Eliminate Pork Barrel Spending?
If you ran for president and made one of your major issues eliminating pork-barrel spending, then you probably deserve what's coming to you (politically.)HemlockGrey wrote:You have been elected President of the United States of America. One of your major platforms was to eliminate excess spending. Now you must follow through if you are to have a hope of reelection.
So how do you eliminate pork without pissing everybody in Washington off?
The people will back the president's desire to slash pork-barrel spending . . . right up to the point they realize that it's their pet project that's going to get cut. Then they start to lobby their congresspersons, who then immediately object to any substantial cut that the president might want to make to pork-barrel spending. Then, in four years, the guy from the other party will make an issue of it and voila lame-duck president.
About the only way to really cut pork-barrel spending is to just veto new spending. Which is why the president ought to get the ability to do line-item vetoes, since congresspersons like tacking on money for their pet projects on valid spending bills.
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MKSheppard
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Re: How Would You Eliminate Pork Barrel Spending?
Not to steal Marina's line, but the Confederate Constitution allowedGrandMasterTerwynn wrote: About the only way to really cut pork-barrel spending is to just veto new spending. Which is why the president ought to get the ability to do line-item vetoes, since congresspersons like tacking on money for their pet projects on valid spending bills.
the CSA's president to do just that
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::blink::Queeb Salaron wrote:Tell me you're joking. A Flat Tax will NEVER work. Economists have warned against it for YEARS.Knife wrote:Use every bit of the bullypulpit to get the existing tax code tossed out and institute a flat tax or a national sales tax at a fixed rate and a extremely high bar to get over to raise the %. Then kiss my presidency good bye...
Which ones?
Acutally, I would declare myself dictator, take the 2004 Congressional Budget, and go through it, ripping out pages at random. It should come out better than before.
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IIRC the President can do that now.Beowulf wrote:Get an amendment passed allowing line-item vetoes...
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That got overturned by the Supreme Court IIRC. It has to be made an amendment to the constitution to allow the president to do a line-item veto. I believe the reasoning why it got tossed is that the Constitution says that the president can only sign or veto a bill, he can't change it...Alyeska wrote:IIRC the President can do that now.Beowulf wrote:Get an amendment passed allowing line-item vetoes...
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RedImperator
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The Supreme Court tossed it out. Congress can't delegate its lawmaking power to the President without an Amendment.Alyeska wrote:IIRC the President can do that now.Beowulf wrote:Get an amendment passed allowing line-item vetoes...
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Coyote
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Line item veto is the only way it will happen, but the Congress won't allow it. And the good thing about a flat tax is that it closes all the loopholes that the current graduated tax system allows. I'd sytill say that people below a certain income range would live tax-free.
Something about Libertarianism always bothered me. Then one day, I realized what it was:
Libertarian philosophy can be boiled down to the phrase, "Work Will Make You Free."
In Libertarianism, there is no Government, so the Bosses are free to exploit the Workers.
In Communism, there is no Government, so the Workers are free to exploit the Bosses.
So in Libertarianism, man exploits man, but in Communism, its the other way around!
If all you want to do is have some harmless, mindless fun, go H3RE INST3ADZ0RZ!!
Grrr! Fight my Brute, you pansy!
Libertarian philosophy can be boiled down to the phrase, "Work Will Make You Free."
In Libertarianism, there is no Government, so the Bosses are free to exploit the Workers.
In Communism, there is no Government, so the Workers are free to exploit the Bosses.
So in Libertarianism, man exploits man, but in Communism, its the other way around!
If all you want to do is have some harmless, mindless fun, go H3RE INST3ADZ0RZ!!
Grrr! Fight my Brute, you pansy!
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Crazy_Vasey
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I couldn't agree more. A flat tax is as fair as it gets -- fully self-adjusting: The more you make, the more you pay. Other loopholes I'd eliminate are various types of income not being counted as income. So far as I'm concerned, if you've more in the bank today than yesterday, it counts as income regardless of how you got it or from whom. And yes, if you make below a certain level, you'd not pay taxes, nor would you get "free" money from the federal government.Coyote wrote:Line item veto is the only way it will happen, but the Congress won't allow it. And the good thing about a flat tax is that it closes all the loopholes that the current graduated tax system allows. I'd sytill say that people below a certain income range would live tax-free.