Here's how you do it - cutting spending

The Republican Study Committee released their proposal to cut $2.5 Trillion from Federal Spending over the next ten years. A two-page summary of their ideas can be found in this PDF file and the 78-page bill text is in this PDF file (what, no pork laden 2,000 page bill? I am liking this Congress!) An overview:

Spending Reduction Act of 2011
The Spending Reduction Act of 2011 reduces federal spending by $2.5 trillion over ten years. The bill will specifically hold FY 2011 non-security discretionary spending to FY 08 levels, hold non-defense discretionary spending to FY 06 levels thereafter for the rest of the ten-year budget window (the same level as in effect during the last year of GOP control of the Congress), and include more than 100 other program eliminations or savings proposals, consisting of proposals from the RSC Sunset Caucus, YouCut, or past RSC budgets.

Some highlights:

• Corporation for Public Broadcasting Subsidy. $445 million annual savings.
• Save America�s Treasures Program. $25 million annual savings.
• International Fund for Ireland. $17 million annual savings.
• Legal Services Corporation. $420 million annual savings.
• National Endowment for the Arts. $167.5 million annual savings.
• National Endowment for the Humanities. $167.5 million annual savings.
• Hope VI Program. $250 million annual savings.
• Amtrak Subsidies. $1.565 billion annual savings.
• Eliminate duplicative education programs. H.R. 2274 (in last Congress), authored by Rep. McKeon, eliminates 68 at a savings of $1.3 billion annually.
• U.S. Trade Development Agency. $55 million annual savings.
• Woodrow Wilson Center Subsidy. $20 million annual savings.
• Cut in half funding for congressional printing and binding. $47 million annual savings.
• John C. Stennis Center Subsidy. $430,000 annual savings.

These are just the first thirteen of a hundred items to be cut. A lot of favorite oxen to be gored but it will never be easy and really needs to be done sooner than later. Kudos to them for putting this on the table and getting the ball rolling. If I were King, the Environmental Protection Agency would be the first entity to get the axe -- entirely shut it down. It has entirely overstepped its bounds and in the last two years has had a budget increase of over 150%.