It’s Time to Slaughter a Few Sacred Cows

OK, sports fans. The clock is winding down and there are just days left before America is poised to fall calamitously over the so-called fiscal cliff.

So what is an almost evenly-divided and clinically dysfunctional Congress supposed to do in order to avoid such a pending economic disaster?

Well, the first thing you do is round up a few sacred cows and start slaughtering them one at a time. Actually, two at a time – one of the Democrats’ cows and one that belongs to the Republicans.

Simultaneously.

The GOP refuses to consider military cuts even though the Iraq War is over and the War in Afghanistan is due to end in 2014. In fact, most Republicans won’t even agree to limit the growth of the military budget despite widespread allegations of waste and price gouging by defense contractors.

Trust me; I am as pro-military as they come. And like Ronald Reagan, I believe that a strong military is the best deterrent to war.

It may have been Jack Dempsey, Vince Lombardi or Carl von Clausewitz who first said it, but they all had it right: the best defense is still a good offense.

That being said, the sacred cow that is military spending must be a candidate for the chopping block if the Republicans expect the Democrats to make a concession of equal value.

Yes, I am speaking of out-of-control and unsustainable entitlements.

“That’s heresy,” cry the liberals, the progressives or whatever they’re calling themselves these days.

Maybe so, but these are desperate times and they call for desperate means.

Which means that responsible cuts to the military budget – as well as to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security – need to be made. Because if we don’t cut now, there will be no cows – sacred or otherwise – for future generations to eat, let alone slaughter.

The United States currently spends 20% of its annual budget on national security and defense. Another 20% goes for Social Security; and 21% more is swallowed up by Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP (Medicaid for children).

That leaves 13% for other safety net programs and 6% to make interest payments on the national debt ($16 trillion and climbing.) And the last time I looked, defaulting on our loans wasn’t a viable option for a Superpower.

If the defense budget and entitlements are “untouchables,” then where are we to cut? All of the other federal programs combined – such as benefits for government retirees and veterans (7%); transportation infrastructure (3%); education (2%); science and medical research (2%); and foreign aid (1%) – only account for 15% of the overall total. The remaining 4% is designated as “Other”, which if eliminated entirely, still leaves us woefully short of the amount that needs to be slashed.

And yes, if you added the above percentages and came up with 99% instead of 100%, so did I. Which tells you why Washington may be in trouble to begin with – no one inside the Beltway can count.

 

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