Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Cut Federal Spending Act of 2011

Thanks to Senator Rand Paul we now have a bill before the US Senate that will reduce Federal spending by 500 billion dollars in 2011.  The title of this bill is the “Cut Federal Spending Act of 2011”.  The bill can be viewed at this link:
This is a relatively short bill considering the amount of spending cuts that it entails.  You can easily read all 12 pages in a few minutes.  If you do not read the entire bill the highlights are as follows:
The following departments or agencies will be defunded:

The Government printing office

The Agriculture Research Service.


The National Institute of Food and Agriculture.


The Resources Conservation Service.


The Foreign Agricultural Service.


All Department of Education programs are defunded effective on the date of enactment of this Act, except for the Pell grant program which shall be capped at $16,256,000,000.


All accounts and programs of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.


The Bureau of Reclamation.


All accounts and programs of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.


All accounts and programs of the Office of Justice Programs.


International Organizations and Conferences.


International Commissions.


All Amtrak Federal subsidies are terminated.


Affordable Housing Program.


Commission on Fine Arts.


Consumer Product Safety Commission.


Corporation for Public Broadcasting.


National Endowment for the Arts.


National Endowment for the Humanities.


State Justice Institute.



All other Federal Agencies and departments will have their budgets cut by various amounts except for the following:


The Occupational Safety and Health Administration.


The Mine Safety and Health Administration.


The Employment and Training Administration (including all unemployment compensation).


Department of Veterans’ Affairs


Social Security Administration


MISCELLANEOUS BUDGET SAVINGS.


The following programs shall be implemented or repealed in fiscal year 2011 with the savings provided:


Collect delinquent taxes from Federal Employees, $3,000,000,000.


Freeze Federal Government employee pay, $2,000,000,000.


Reduce Federal Government travel, $7,500,000,000.


Davis- Bacon is repealed, $6,000,000,000.


Prohibit union labor project agreements, $2,000,000,000.


The Troubled Assets Relief Program is repealed, $4,481,000,000.


Unused Federal assets shall be sold, $19,000,000,000.


Reduce Federal vehicle budget, $600,000,000.

I sent the lettter listed below to  both of my Seantrors:
 


Dear Senator _______________________


I enthusiastically support the “Cut Federal Spending Act of 2011” which was sponsored by Senator Rand Paul. I encourage you to consider the detrimental effects that our current Federal spending will have on the future financial stability of our nation. I know that you have the best interests of your continuants in mind and that you realize that our current federal spending is unsustainable. Your vote to pass the “Cut Federal Spending Act of 2011” will make America stronger and more self sufficient. I know that you will put your constituents future above politics.  I strongly encourage you to vote in favor of the Senate bill “Cut Federal Spending Act of 2011”.

Sincerely yours,


Monday, January 10, 2011

The race to the top

Illinois is poised to capture the title of "highest combined national-local corporate income tax in the industrialized world".  Congratulations!  The details can be found in this article:
It is not over yet.  The lame duck session of the Illinois legislature has only one day left and the tax increase does not yet have the votes to pass.  If you live in Illinois call your State Representative and State Senator and tell them you oppose the tax increase.  Use this link to find the contact information: