Recently, the folks at the Center for the American Experiment (a sister think tank based in Minnesota) put together a symposium of free market leaders (including yours truly) on what they personally would be willing to give up in terms of government services to cure the budget problems facing the federal government.
As I write here, I’d be willing to give up quite a lot. Read what other free market luminaries including Grover Norquist, Former Congressman Tim Penny, and David Theroux have to say.
Good for Robert Osburn! A well off guy paying lip service to the concept of himself getting less Social Security. Just retire early, and you can reduce your benefits all by yourself. Put your money where your mouth is, Bob.
What about my girlfriend’s father? Should we reduce his (already meager) benefits by 25% too? He’s already living in a crappy studio apartment, driving a 25 year old Chevy Cavalier and struggling with medical bills. I suppose he’s probably living too large on the government teat, though…
There are many, many programs that can be eliminated or cut back sharply.
Let’s consider two such programs.
Farm support programs started in the 1930’s to help the small farmer. Today, small farms are virtually extinct, so why are these programs in place? No real reason, except Congress does not deal with changes in economic life. New Zealand dropped its farm support for the dairy industry in 1984 and dairy farmers in NZ are doing very well.
Financial aid to Native American Tribes and Pueblos has existed for many, many years. But, in 1988, Tribes and Pueblos were allowed to operate gambling facilities so that those Tribes/Pueblos with Gambling have lots of money and do NOT need support. Let’s END the entitlement aspect of aid to “Sovereign Nations” and provide welfare to those Indians who need help.
Put in fewer words, look at ALL the programs and drop/modify those that are not needed or need to be changed.
In NM, the way water is allocated needs to be examined and brought up to date. Farming here is not really viable – ask the Hatch Chili farmers who have a sharply reduced amount of water from the Rio Grande and high labor costs means that Mexican Chili is less expensive than NM Chili.
Time to switch to subsidized Cotton? Probably, but why is cotton subsidized in the first place?
Paul, I read your portion of the study and it was basically on target. For me, being on Social Security, I would have been better off taking the 7% or so they confiscated from me along with the matching money my employers paid on my behalf and investing it. I don’t consider it an entitlement, I thought I was paying for it. I do consider it a massive ponzi scheme on par with Bernie Madoff, but that is water under the bridge.
What I do resent about government is their ability to confiscate a dollar, send back fifty cents and make us believe we are getting a great deal. Even though, for the most part, NM gets back two dollars for every dollar we send to Washington DC, and that’s after they have raked off their “take”. Most everything they “do” for us serfs is unconstitutional and should be ended.