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#1
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What % of government could be eliminated tomorrow?
I was talking with my wife last night about the transition to a more libertarian society. And the question came up.
I am curious as to what agency's / programs / jobs etc. Could be immediately cut without serious harm. I am not interested in "LDO ! wipe em all out" type answers. I am asking for real world answers about how we can get government under control. |
#2
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Re: What % of government could be eliminated tomorrow?
Depends on what you consider "serious harm." You'd pretty likely be harming those that use a program/have a gov't job.
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#3
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Re: What % of government could be eliminated tomorrow?
[ QUOTE ]
I was talking with my wife last night about the transition to a more libertarian society. And the question came up. I am curious as to what agency's / programs / jobs etc. Could be immediately cut without serious harm. I am not interested in "LDO ! wipe em all out" type answers. I am asking for real world answers about how we can get government under control. [/ QUOTE ] Good question, and doubtless the answer is complex. A simple factoid, though: * Year 2000 Federal Budget = $1.8 trillion * Year 2007 Federal Budget = $2.8 trillion Wiki Federal Budget United States Perhaps this is food for thought? |
#4
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Re: What % of government could be eliminated tomorrow?
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] I was talking with my wife last night about the transition to a more libertarian society. And the question came up. I am curious as to what agency's / programs / jobs etc. Could be immediately cut without serious harm. I am not interested in "LDO ! wipe em all out" type answers. I am asking for real world answers about how we can get government under control. [/ QUOTE ] Good question, and doubtless the answer is complex. A simple factoid, though: * Year 2000 Federal Budget = $1.8 trillion * Year 2007 Federal Budget = $2.8 trillion Wiki Federal Budget United States Perhaps this is food for thought? [/ QUOTE ] Are those inflation-adjusted dollars? If so, SWEET JESUS [censored] CHRIST! |
#5
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Re: What % of government could be eliminated tomorrow?
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] I was talking with my wife last night about the transition to a more libertarian society. And the question came up. I am curious as to what agency's / programs / jobs etc. Could be immediately cut without serious harm. I am not interested in "LDO ! wipe em all out" type answers. I am asking for real world answers about how we can get government under control. [/ QUOTE ] Good question, and doubtless the answer is complex. A simple factoid, though: * Year 2000 Federal Budget = $1.8 trillion * Year 2007 Federal Budget = $2.8 trillion Wiki Federal Budget United States Perhaps this is food for thought? [/ QUOTE ] Are those inflation-adjusted dollars? If so, SWEET JESUS [censored] CHRIST! [/ QUOTE ] I was not assuming that they were inflation adjusted and my guess on that would be no. First a 25% cut from FY 2008 budget of $ 2.9 trillion: ---> cut down to $ 2.175 trillion, and comparing that to 2000 FY budget level of 1.8 trillion. That leaves $ .375 trillion increase for inflation adjustment, and I have no idea how accurate that may be (the difficulty of adjusting for inflation is also exacerbated due to shifting standards for gauging inflation. So I'm just allowing some leeway or ballparking it and asking why we can't revert to roughly FY 2000 spending levels even if adjusted for inflation). Put another way, I'd probably feel more or less OK with a FY 2008 $ 2.175 trillion budget provided that I also felt OK with a FY 2000 $1.8 trillion budget. I don't feel OK with a continuous yearly spending growth that led from from 1.8 trillion to 2.9 trillion over 8 years, inflation or no; and I don't see why we couldn't roll back spending to approximately FY 2000 levels. Getting out of Iraq would help but it isn't the only factor propelling the massive spending increase. |
#6
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Re: What % of government could be eliminated tomorrow?
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Could be immediately cut without serious harm. [/ QUOTE ] What does that mean? Government = serious harm. It's like asking how much organized crime can we cut without serious harm? A way of disbanding could be to cut spending every 6 months by 50%, and obviously to cut laws and regulations concordingly. This allows the market with the room to come up with solutions and allows people to have money for it. |
#7
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Re: What % of government could be eliminated tomorrow?
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A way of disbanding could be to cut spending every 6 months by 50%, and obviously to cut laws and regulations concordingly. [/ QUOTE ] But then the government would never go away. Do you see why? |
#8
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Re: What % of government could be eliminated tomorrow?
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] A way of disbanding could be to cut spending every 6 months by 50%, and obviously to cut laws and regulations concordingly. [/ QUOTE ] But then the government would never go away. Do you see why? [/ QUOTE ] Yes, it would. When free market arbitration gets in the first stages of maturity, then the state quickly becomes visible as a criminal and bankrupt organization. Game over. |
#9
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Re: What % of government could be eliminated tomorrow?
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] A way of disbanding could be to cut spending every 6 months by 50%, and obviously to cut laws and regulations concordingly. [/ QUOTE ] But then the government would never go away. Do you see why? [/ QUOTE ] Yes, it would. When free market arbitration gets in the first stages of maturity, then the state quickly becomes visible as a criminal and bankrupt organization. Game over. [/ QUOTE ] Take 1. Subtract half. Now we have 1/2. Subtract half. Now we have 1/4. Subtract half. Now we have 1/8. Continue ad infinitum and there's still government! |
#10
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Re: What % of government could be eliminated tomorrow?
Yes, this formula was explained to me when I was 11 years old. I made a response to this problem. Did you read it and comprehend it?
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