What government expenses should be cut?

2013-12-28T16:41:32-05:00

Every year it seems that there is a debate over what cuts should be made to government spending. Recently, a bill has been passed to reduce the COLA for retired military and veterans under the age of 62, which could have service members losing thousands of dollars in benefits they have earned. It seems that the military is always the first to get the knife, or at least the sharpest part of it in my opinion. With that being said, what government expenses, to include military, do you think we should look at cutting/reducing/replacing in order to help mitigate the government spending/waste, without losing our mission readiness? Please keep your comments as professional as possible.

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 28 at 2013 6:11 PM

2013-12-28T18:11:59-05:00

The Army should cut the million redundant programs we have. Think about how many programs you have for just suicide. MRT, ASIST, ACE, MFLC, chaplain, one source, family advocacy etc. It's ridiculous.

Same with computer systems. You have the global assessment tool, the multiple source feedback and a million others. All slightly do so,etching different but it's a complete waste not to mention not a single Army computer program works.

Then look at biometrics on deployments. You got BATS, HIIDE, SEEK, and others and none of them fully talk to each other.

Then look at software programs. You have DCGS, Palantir etc. Hell the fully funded Palantir and it isn't even a fully approved software program.

I could go on for DAYS on redundant stuff.

Then there's the constant switching of uniforms and stuff. How much do you think it costs to constantly researcht his crap only to scrap the idea? Like the new APFT they spent millions only to scrap it. They had a test to find a better rifle to replace the M4, spent millions, then scrapped it.

How about simple stuff like just paper and ink??? How many units use MyForms? Like zero I've ever seen. So people print out hard copy after hard copy of evaluations and other random crap rather than actually being in the digital age. What about leave forms??? How many times do you see leave forms stay fully digital throughout the entire process? I bet the Army alone wastes MILLION a year on paper and ink printing carp that should be fully automated by now.

Response by Cpl Ray Fernandez made Dec 29 at 2013 5:28 PM

2013-12-29T17:28:48-05:00

First I'd like to tie political office holder's pay to the median wage of the American worker this way the better the average American does, then and only then will they be able to receive a raise. Second echoing what Cpl Fittizzi stated cutting Congressional benefits and pensions, the idea of the office that they hold was never meant to be a path to wealth and power, it was meant to be a tempoary service to the people after which the people would return to the private sector and return to being productive members of society instead of being parasites.

I would then look at changing how the government conducts business in general. I would look at contracting to private companites to handle the delivery of services to the people. It would actually be cheaper and more efficient to hire companies that would have a profit motive that would reduce fraud and provide the people with better service where someone who is terrible at their job can actually be fired instead of lingering around and collecting a pension just because they waited out the clock (For example it is possible to conduct many DMV services here in California through the AAA and they are friendly and helpful, with much less waiting).

Response by SPC Meri Justus made Dec 31 at 2013 10:54 AM

2013-12-31T10:54:08-05:00

the government should take pay cuts, they should be forced to live off minimum wadge, just like the rest of the people. that would save a lot of money for them.

Response by SrA Eric Olsen made Dec 31 at 2013 10:59 AM

2013-12-31T10:59:18-05:00

Over the years I have come to learn that true leadership starts at the top. Not by asking others to do something they themselves won't do as a leader but to lead by example. Our government no longer (if they ever have) does that. Our leaders in DC cut expenses like pay and "earned" benefits to the military and veterans while still doling out money to countries that hate us or increasing the "unearned" benefits to those in this country that haven't earned them. Or they find ways to increase their income at the expense of the American tax payer. Maybe if our elected leaders were a little more willing to reduce wasteful expenses and reduce their own pay, Americans wouldn't be so disgruntled and ticked off at them right now.

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 31 at 2013 2:03 PM

2013-12-31T14:03:48-05:00

Some may not agree with this, but there's a spot in Military spending that I think would benefit... Civilian contracting, DOL and some DPW services. There are jobs out there being performed by civilians that plenty of Service Members have been trained to do, and paid by taxpayers (the training, and for the Service Members to do other superfluous things other than their job). Just a thought...

Response by MAJ Bryan Zeski made Dec 31 at 2013 3:41 PM

2013-12-31T15:41:45-05:00

I'd start with foreign aid and our sending money and supplies to countless other nations. I get that other nations are sucking worse than we are, but we can't have it both ways. We can't complain about how broke we are and still send money to other nations.

I'd also recover the vast majority of our armed forces overseas and bring them back to their home stations - and ideally back to CONUS. We have not been tasked by anyone to be the world police, and its not something we should be jumping on by ourselves. We need to enter a period of national regrouping and recovery where we focus on education, production and trade - not "defense."

Another area we can save money is by not buying a whole new "set" of the latest and greatest war machines. Do we really need 2000+ F-35s or F-22s? No, we really don't. I'm all for continuing R&D and making more better fighters and other systems, but we don't need to fully field each iteration. Let's save some of that $$ we don't spend buying a new fleet and put it back into making the next system better. There is no other nation on the planet capable of going toe to toe with the US in the air, on the ground, or in the water - what is the purpose of increasing that disparity? The trade off is that we are losing the race in education, cyberspace, and space exploration. We're trading long term benefits for short term security. That will be what puts the US at the mercy of other nations in the next century.

Response by SGT Thomas Sullivan made Dec 31 at 2013 3:52 PM

2013-12-31T15:52:52-05:00

Just a quick example of your tax dollars at work. Why are we funding this? Especially funding this type of program at a fantastically expensive private law school instead of state run programs?

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2013/08/09/free-tuition-for-law-school/

Free Tuition for Law School?

A new study claims Georgetown University Law Center is exploiting a loophole in financial aid regulations, making it possible to charge its students more than $200,000 for a law degree, and leaving ta...

Response by SFC Stephen P. made Jan 1 at 2014 8:39 AM

2014-01-01T08:39:52-05:00

The simplest way to go about it is cut anything not mentioned in Article 1 section 8.

Foreign aid, agricultural subsidies, loan guarantees (housing, business, and college), all public health (phase out MEDICARE), any education, SEC, lots of EPA, most of the FCC, the DEA, BATFE, FDA, and eventually the IRS.

Military side: Eliminate waste through consolidation (there is absolutely no justification for me to go to 20 different websites for annual mandatory training requirements). Cease wasteful recycling and renewable energy programs. Recall most overseas troops (permanent and temporary). Eliminate all National Guard (repeal the Dick Act). Consolidate Reserve and Regular command structures and ease transitions between them. Shift incentives to direct cash payments (education incentives are more costly, have greater administration requirements, and encourages waste in public education). Remove education assistance programs (like TA) except where needed to enhance readiness (and then funded by the individual command). I would also phase in fees for dependent enrolment in Tricare, and eliminate with dependents BAH.

The actual issue with COLA is not that it was cut, but that we are deliberately devaluing currency.

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 13 at 2014 6:48 AM

2014-06-13T06:48:06-04:00

Unemployment, Welfare and our prison systems all need to be looked at and reformed. We can severally reduce the amount of money we give because people don't have jobs.

I have known several people on welfare and unemployment benefits who refuse to get a job because they make more not having a job then they would if they were a productive member of society.

Response by SFC Joseph McCausland made Oct 2 at 2015 2:09 PM

2015-10-02T14:09:21-04:00

In three words...ALL OF THEM! and here is how you do it:
First, do away with "baseline budgeting"
Second you give every department of the federal government 90 days to cut 10% out of their existing operating budget (excluding personnel; because they always cut from the bottom) at the end of 90 days if they have not submitted their proposals.. then they have 60 days to reduce their staff equal to what would have amounted to the 10% cut, only this time... they must cut from the "Top Down"; excluding any department heads appointed by the President, unfortunately we can't do anything about them, their fate rests in the President's hands.

Believe me, when 'THEIR".. the entrenched bureaucrats jobs are in jeopardy, they will find 10% to cut faster then it would take the Iranians to drive to the beach to soup up a phony "uranium free" soil sample.

Also, you reduce every dollar going out to foreign aide by 25 cents..75 cents is better than nothing!

When are we going to learn that we "The United States of America" can not be everything to everyone? When are we going to say enough is enough?

Our National Debt is close to 18 1/2 trillion dollars, most American's have no clue just how big that number is... well picture this... take "crisp" one dollar bills.. tape them together end-to-end ( 2 bills comes very close to 1 foot in length) do this until all 18 1/2 trillion bills are attached to each other... now take these bills and attached them to a rocket ship and start flying around the earth,.. Oh..... don't stop until you have circle the earth over 55,500 times.

Our next President will be left with a mess to fix.. the World will be less safe.... the United States will be less safe... WE will be challenged by China, who wants to replace their currency as the "world currency", if this happens, well, then, we are in real trouble. Some say it will "never" happen, I say, the weaker the US is perceived the better the chance of China succeeding.

At this moment, strength and the United States are anything but synonymous.