Edgewise

If I were king

Christian Crumlish

I just tried out Nathan Newman's National Budget Simulator and, with a little tinkering, reduced the deficit by about 90%:

Old budget was $3747.36 billion
($2672.527 billion in spending, $1074.833 billion in tax expenditures and cuts).

New budget is $3369.49 billion
($2633.78 billion in spending, $735.71 billion in tax expenditures and cuts).

You have cut the deficit by $377.87 billion.
Your new deficit is $23.13 billion.

A summary of my choices is included below the fold.

Spending ($2633.78 billion: cut $38.74 billion)

$312.27 billion .... Military Spending
Cut $133.83 bil. from base of $446.105 bil.(-30%)

$55.93 billion ..... Iraq War and Afghanistan Operations
Cut $55.91 bil. from base of $111.851 bil.(-50%)

$115.48 billion .... Veterans & Retired Military Pensions and Services (No Change)

$34.75 billion ..... International Affairs
Increased $3.16 bil. from base of $31.590 bil.( 10%)

$26.36 billion ..... General Science, Space, and Technology
Increased $2.39 bil. from base of $23.967 bil.( 10%)

$2.55 billion ...... Non-Defense Energy Spending
Increased $0.43 bil. from base of $2.121 bil.( 20%)

$40.51 billion ..... Natural Resources and Environment
Increased $9.35 bil. from base of $31.163 bil.( 30%)

$18.21 billion ..... Agriculture
Cut $7.8 bil. from base of $26.020 bil.(-30%)

$84.81 billion ..... Transportation
Increased $14.14 bil. from base of $70.673 bil.( 20%)

$19.1 billion ...... Community and Regional Development (No Change)

$128.14 billion .... Education
Increased $64.07 bil. from base of $64.068 bil.( 100%)

$47.81 billion ..... Training, Labor and Unemployment Programs (No Change)

$303.98 billion .... Non-Medicare Health Spending
Increased $50.66 bil. from base of $253.320 bil.( 20%)

$345.75 billion .... Medicare (No Change)

$71.94 billion ..... Civilian Retirement (Social Security excluded) (No Change)

$227.45 billion .... Aid to Low-Income Families
Increased $20.68 bil. from base of $206.773 bil.( 10%)

$25.62 billion ..... General Family Support (No Change)
$6.82 billion ...... Commerce and Housing Loan Programs (No Change)
$544.82 billion .... Social Security (No Change)

$38.79 billion ..... Administration of Justice
Cut $4.3 bil. from base of $43.099 bil.(-10%)

$15.98 billion ..... General Government Administration
Cut $1.76 bil. from base of $17.754 bil.(-10%)

$211.08 billion .... Net Interest (No Change)
$-44.37 billion .... Undistributed Offsetting Receipts and Allowance (No Change)

Tax Expenditures ($735.71 billion: cut $339.11 billion)

$0 billion ......... 2001 and 2003 Tax Cuts
Cut $294.59 bil. from base of $294.6 bil.(-100%)

$18.11 billion ..... Corporate Tax Breaks
Cut $42.24 bil. from base of $60.360 bil.(-70%)

$86.71 billion ..... Personal Business and Investment Benefits (No Change)
$168.47 billion .... Pension and Retirement Tax Benefits (No Change)

$155.09 billion .... Health Insurance Tax Benefits
Increased $14.1 bil. from base of $140.990 bil.( 10%)

$147.34 billion .... Housing Tax Benefits
Cut $16.36 bil. from base of $163.710 bil.(-10%)

$159.99 billion .... Other Individual Deductions and Expenditures (No Change)

Posted by xian at October 7, 2005 7:38 PM | TrackBack