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Where would you begin?

I personally would cut out the TSA completely and leave it up to the airlines to provide their own private security. Aside from the fact that going through airport security is complete BS, I don't feel that the TSA is money well spent ($8.1 billion annually).

I'll elaborate more when there is more time, but please, keep the thread alive!

It would be far easier to list things to keep. I'm not even sure where to begin...

Step one: Take us away from a Fiat currency back to real money. Obviously, a return to the gold standard would be great, but gold, silver, whatever, just not monopoly money worth what the gov't says it's worth. If I did what the gov't does, that would be called counterfeiting and they would throw me in prison. But when the gov't does it, it's "good economic policy". The dollar is only worth the paper it is printed on. As soon as enough people realize this (or countries stop buying our debt knowing we will just print more and more and more) we are in for a big problem. Can't live on credit forever, eventually you have to pay it off. I'd rather deal with it now when its awful instead of later when it will be catastrophic.

Step two: Eliminate Social Security (that's a ponzi scheme if one ever existed). Followed by Medicare/Medicaid, the DHS, IRS, DEA, ATF, Dept of Education, Dept of Energy, Dept of Agriculture, HUD, Dept of Transportation... What else am I missing... Absolutely slash military spending for sure. There would be very little Federal gov't left when I'm done, and even less Federal laws.

If I can't do that, I would change how the gov't "interperts" the Interstate Commerce Claus of Article I of the Constitution. It uses that as an excuse for almost every thing it does beyond it's lawful scope of authority.

Perry, I can't remember if you also read this book when we deployed in 08/09, It's called "Speaking of Liberty". Anderson lent it to me to read, but you can download it for free from several places. Just Google it and they pop up. The whole this is fantastic, but one of my favorite essays in it is "An American Classical Liberalism" on page 299. Check it out.

Edit: Oh I can't believe I forgot to mention this (I first thought of the question Domestically only) I would return the US to a non-interventionist foreign policy. That's a big one.

As for the international aid thing, I'm with you Jack. I'd tell the Packistanies that if they want US dollars, they'll have to deliver heads on pikes. Right now we're giving them billions of dollars so they could continue to hide our enemies from us. Yeah, that makes sence.

As for hacking and slashing things like Social Security and Medicare and others, it's no where near as easy as you might think. These programs, like drugs, have addicted millions of people accross the union. They rely on those programs to survive, and most of them are Senior Citizens. You can't just yank the rug out from under them. Like most, they were sold the story that if you work hard and pay into these programs, there will be a reward at the end of your days, and the government will take care of you. Like most people of the day, they believed their government and paid into the programs the money that they would have otherwise been saving for their own use. Now when they need it most, you're going to just yank it away from them. They paid into these programs in good faith, and like many in the beltway these days, you're saying, 'Sorry Gramps, it sucks to be you.' No, you can't just close the door on them. Most would end up living on the street and destitute.

Also, it really burns me up when people start talking cutting military spending. What about the VA? They fall under military spending. What about all of the VA bennifits to wounded service members who have been perminately handicapped by the wars both past and current? Yes, cut spending on bombs and bullets and stupid pointy nosed planes that we really don't need, but please don't take away what little we do for those who've fallen but survived.

While we're on Government spending, what about throwing and little more into Phsyciatric programs to keep would be mass murderer's from going off and shooting up theaters and schools. Right now they want to ban guns, well that's like blaming a pen for miss spelling a word. We need to get the crazies off the street and into an institution where they'll be delt with properly, while making the rest of us safer.

Now if you really want to cut TSA, that would be one thing, but how about we cut their shackles first, and give them a chance to show their metle. Right now we have them so hamstrung due to "political correctness" that they are not allowed to do their job. Terrorist are not 85 year old WWII vets. They are not infants. We should not only allow for racial profiling, but should encourage it. As for the airlines hiring out their own security? Be careful what you wish for. I don't think there are many of us here that would want to see a bunch of "Blackwater Thugs" running security for our airports, or worse, a terrorist sympothiser.

Are cuts needed? Damn straight! But you can't go in with a machete and just hack and slash away at it. This mess didn't just happen, and it didn't just happen over night. We've spent nearly one hundred years working our way into this mess, and we can't just hop out over night without leaving hundreds of thousands in our wake.

However, if you really want to do something about the economy, then change the Corporate Tax Code so that we stop penalizing companies who hire Americans, and rewarding those who ship our jobs off shore.

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Slow is Fast, Fast is Slow
Violence may not be the best option, but it IS an option

They paid into them for years, and they're getting less on their return than they would have if left to their own devices, but yes, it would be wrong to "yank the rug out from under them" after the fact. But what about me, or anyone from my generation? Now we're being mandated to pay into a program while being told there will be a reward at the end of our days, except that it will not happen. Social Security will not exist when I am older. I know this, and am planning accordingly. Don't piss on me and tell me it's raining. It is a ponzi scheme and I am being forced to take part in it.



There is a big difference in military spending and defense spending. I want to slash military spending. The spending that puts a US military presence in how many countries all over the world? in how many bases? Do you really thing that the United States is safer by keeping thousands of troops spending billions of dollars in Germany, the UK, Korea..... for over half a century? How about those countries pay for their own defense, and we worry about ours.


Definitely not the proper role of the Federal gov't.

The TSA is without an incentive to do well, or be efficient. They have nothing at stake. The airlines have a lot at stake- their existence. They are in the best position to decide what rules to implement on their own property/services, and you are free to fly or not fly on them based on the level of value of service they would be providing.

Absolutely, we are in a deep hole. That's why immediate action is necessary. I don't want to balance the budget in 40 years, I want it done NOW! It's like being in a car headed towards a cliff at 60 miles an hour. Should we slow down to 55 miles an hour? Or should we stop, and go in reverse?


I think the most efficient way to mobilize people to demand change would be eliminate tax withholding. That little bit would have a big impact I believe. Oh, your taxes and everything are all still the same, but instead of the gov't taking them from your paycheck, you now get a bills in the mail and have to cut a check to medicare, to social security, to federal taxes... I think this would wake up a lot of sheep to realize "WTF is the gov't taking such a giant chunk of my money for???" and demand change. Or just not pay. And instead of the gov't taking your money at the barrel of a gun, now it must beg for it, and justify why it wants it at your discretion.

"I think the most efficient way to mobilize people to demand change would be eliminate tax withholding. That little bit would have a big impact I believe. Oh, your taxes and everything are all still the same, but instead of the gov't taking them from your paycheck, you now get a bills in the mail and have to cut a check to medicare, to social security, to federal taxes... I think this would wake up a lot of sheep to realize "WTF is the gov't taking such a giant chunk of my money for???" and demand change. Or just not pay. And instead of the gov't taking your money at the barrel of a gun, now it must beg for it, and justify why it wants it at your discretion."

Now you are on to something! People really don't have a firm grasp on how much of their hard earned wages go to provide inaguration balls, and to support BS that we don't want or need. Closing overseas bases may not be a bad idea either. However it would lead to a smaller military. The down side there is that we would have to push early outs for service members, (the military's way of having layoffs), in an economy already blighted with extremely hight unemployment. I know, I'm pushing this to an extreme, but I am playing devil's advocate here and it's what I do to keep it interesting.

To be honest, I really think too that TSA is a bloated burocracy that has gotten so mired in it's own mass that it hardly could be called functional, let alone effective. But if the airlines were responsible for their own security, wouldn't that require security check points at each gate? Granted, they would be hiring many more people, but that would also jack up the cost of a ticket. Unforntunately, the security of the airlines falls under the jurisdiction of the FAA and I doubt they'll stand for it unless they could guarantee a uniform standard of security provided.

As for medicar, SS, and medicade, I think the US government should mandate that the Federal Reserve Bank should either bail out these programs and provide for them 100%, or we start taxing the Federal Reserve Bank. Afer all, the Federal Reserve Bank is no more a federal entity than Federal Express. Why not tax the ever loving SH!T out of them and get our country back on track. But yes, you are absolutly right, that these programs are and have been from day one, a ponzi scheme, and the nation was the one dupped. Worse yet is that neither political party will do anything about it because the FRB has all the politicians in their pockets, so they keep getting richer while the rest of the nation ends up in the poor house.

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Slow is Fast, Fast is Slow
Violence may not be the best option, but it IS an option

Looks like we were all wrong.... Apparantly Tuition Assistance was the big ticket item that needed to be cut to bring us out of financial ruin.

I think after the way Karzai went mental in Afghanistan, we need to just pack up and go. We try to teach these numbnuts how to protect themselves, but now he thinks we're working WITH the taliban...after the AFG police and "soldiers" freak out and kill Americans...

They can have it, and we could save billions.

I got notice today, as a civilian federal technician in the ANG I'm losing 176 hours of pay over the next 6 months which equals out to around $5,100. We do the exact same job as the active duty USAF, wear the uniform, adhere to the same AFIs, MOIs, and standards as the USAF...but we get furloughed. Thanks big government...I'll enjoy my day off a week I guess. At least it's during the warm months...

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