I supposed the other day what would happen to the deficit if the government simply cut all the programs and subsides that contribute to the violent and inequitable world we live in.
**2012 defense spending: 1 trillion**
cut by 75%
-$750 billion
**2008 Farm Bill $288 billion**
cut by 50%
-$144 billion
**War on Drugs approx $50 billion**
cut by 100%
-$50 billion
**Foregin Military and Economic Aid approx $12 billion**
cut by 100%
-$12 billion
**Federal Burea of Prisons approx $500 million**
cut by 50% or more by releasing non violent drug offenders and other petty criminals with no felonies or violent offenses
-$250 million
**Medicare Part D approx $70 billion a year**
cut by 100%
-$70 billion
**CIA budget approx $30 billion a year**
cut by 90%
-$27 billion
There are numerous things that could be cut, but that I can't find easy figures for. I came up with this in a couple minutes of internet research. It's possible the savings from the above cuts could be higher, I tried to be conservative whenever possible.
If a tax has to be implemented, the so called "Nader" tax on financial transactions of about 1/2 of a percent would raise a significant amount of revenue while having a small impact on world markets.
Revenue
1/2 of 1% tax on financial market transactions
+approx 350 billion
Total Swing- $1,403,250,000 or approx $1.4 trillion per year
aprox defecit $15 trillion
pay off deficit in approx 11 years
Of course, a person could cut any number of other things. Again, this is all very hasty and preliminary. To get these net savings, automatics increases in spending would have to be frozen, or made even with inflation.
The point is not how to magically fix the deficit (11 years is probably too long to take, although better than forever) but how much the US spends on things that are not only uneconomical, but morally unjustified.
