A Look At The Budget

Just for kicks, here is a look at the proposed 2009 Federal budget. Take notice of my cheap remarks.

Department of Agriculture = $94.7 Billion
My recommendation: Eliminate
The department is useless due to the fact that government has no business being involved in agriculture.

Department of Commerce = $8.2 Billion
My recommendation: Reduce
The department should be downsized due to the fact that its only function should ensure state regulation does not interfere with cross-border transactions and business.

Department of Defense = $651 Billion
My recommendation: None

Department of Education = $63.5 Billion
My recommendation: Eliminate
The department is useless due to the simple fact that it has never educated ONE child in its existence. All it does is create red tape and increase costs for local districts.

Department of Energy = $24.7 Billion
My recommendation: Eliminate
The department is useless due to the fact that government has no expertise or business regarding energy.

Department of Health and Human Services = $736.8 Billion
My recommendation: Eliminate or severely reduce and reform
Medicare and Schip costs are growing and show no sign of slowing. Both should be eliminated. This department should be greatly downsized so it only has to deal with pandemics in the U.S.

Department of Homeland Security = $44.3 Billion
My recommendation: Eliminate
The department creates extra red tape and confuse the country's efforts in battling fundamental extremism at home and abroad. To battle this nemesis government has to be nimble and surgical. To add to the military and security-service bureaucracy only further complicates the governments most fundamental function of protecting its citizens.

Department of Housing and Urban Development = $45.6 Billion
My recommendation: Eliminate
The department has failed miserably in providing quality living conditions for the working poor. In fact the department's policies have lowered the standard of living in many communities across the U.S.

Department of the Interior = $10.5 Billion
My recommendation: Reduce
With the elimination of the EPA, some of its functions can be shuffled into the Department of the Interior.

Department of Justice = $26.6 Billion
My recommendation: Reduce
The department can be downsized due to the fact that the DEA ($2.2 Billion) should be eliminated with the legalization of drugs.

Department of Labor = $54.2 Billion
My recommendation: Eliminate
The department is useless due to the fact that people can conclude for themselves which companies and organizations have sound working environments and fair practices. Any enforcement issues should be delegated to the Department of Justice.

Department of State and Other International Programs = $39.3 Billion
My recommendation: Reform
Some programs should be eliminated (e.g., Export-Import Bank should be eliminated because of the unfair market practices it breeds. Think Enron) while others should be boosted, such as providing military aid to U.S. allies (e.g. Columbia and India).

Department of Transportation = $71.1 Billion
My recommendation: Eliminate
The department's transportation responsibilities, such as road maintenance and infrastructure, can and should be delegated to the states.

Department of Treasury = $67.2 Billion
My recommendation: Reduce
The department creates undue, burdensome regulations for business. With the elimination of the Federal Reserve System, some of its functions should be incorporated into the Treasury Department.

Department of Veterans Affairs = $91.8 Billion
My recommendation: None

Corps of Engineers - Civil Works = $8.8 Billion
My recommendation: Eliminate
The engineers' services can be privatized.

Environmental Protection Agency = $8 Billion
My recommendation: Eliminate
The agency creates undue, burdensome regulations for business and has proven to be incompetent in executing its mission of protecting the environment. Its $8 billion cost is greatly deceptive because the regulations it imposes on businesses increases costs for consumers with no direct beneficial trade-off. All environmental enforcement issues can be delegated to the Justice Department.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration = $18.1 Billion
My recommendation: Reform
I can think of other departments that are more wasteful of tax dollars.

National Science Foundation = $6.4 Billion
My recommendation: Eliminate
Government is NOT in the business of getting involved in scientific study. The foundation imposes politics in labs, rather than science (i.e., the global warming debate).

Small Business Administration = $825 Million
My recommendation: Eliminate
However, the administration should only be eliminated if other departments are expired by lawmakers. Otherwise, the small business community will need its voice heard through the administration in order to combat bad ideas coming out of other departments.

Social Security Administration = $694.8 Billion
My recommendation: Eliminate
The administration is useless due to the fact that workers can find better retirement savings and plans in the private sector. The administration also serves as a slush fund for politicians pet projects and also adds to employers' costs of labor.

With the elimination of the departments above, the federal government would reduce its overhead by roughly $1,853,725,000.00 trillion for 2009, or $18 trillion over 10 years. Of course these eliminations could not be done over night and would probably need a decade to execute. Medicare and Social Security would take longer to eliminate.