What % of government could be eliminated tomorrow?

[Copernicus]

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There is a high implementation cost for privatising retirement funding and many other private solutions.

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HUH?? how do you figure? Vanguard or Scottrade accounts cost almost nothing and far far out perform SSI

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I was specifically thinking of Social Security (SSI) in terms of implementation cost, but it works for other programs. Right now, people working largely fund today's retirees. If you eliminated SSI, workers would start saving more for their retirement. However, retirees need the money they are getting from today's workers to survive. If they don't go back to work, you will need a massive temporary increase in retirement spending so there's enough money for people to save for their retirement and pay for today's retirees.

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Cut spending in unneeded sectors ( there are plenty ) to cover the shortfall. These people payed SSI in good faith and should not be cut off. But I don't see how we cant fulfill our obligation to them and create a viable alternative for the rest of us.

IMO Social security is one of the easiest things to fix.

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It is, but not likely the way you would fix it. (And certainly not the way GWB wanted to "fix" it).

[NeBlis]

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the Patent office

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LOL that will get the ACers riled up !

good point though

The copyright office is largely digitized now. I suspect that the patent office is also. I don't see how this cant be privatized, or at least unfunded by tax, and payed for by fees for filing. Enforcement is done through the courts.

[NeBlis]

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It is, but not likely the way you would fix it. (And certainly not the way GWB wanted to "fix" it).



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your thoughts on how this should be done oh wise one?

[mjkidd]

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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.

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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?

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Are those inflation-adjusted dollars? If so, SWEET JESUS [censored] CHRIST!

[Copernicus]

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It is, but not likely the way you would fix it. (And certainly not the way GWB wanted to "fix" it).



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your thoughts on how this should be done oh wise one?

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These recommendations are the best overall approach, although it is based on the 2005 Trustees report. Improvements in the economy have also improved the long term outlook for SS, so the specifics here may be a bit more drastic than needed.

KSG recommendations

[mosdef]

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Improvements in the economy have also improved the long term outlook for SS

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This doesn't make any sense to me. Can you elaborate? What improved in the economy? How did it impact SS?

[elwoodblues]

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But I don't see how we cant fulfill our obligation to them and create a viable alternative for the rest of us.

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The problem is that for each person who pays for the person ahead of them to get SS benefits, they will have the same sense of entitlement as the previous generation. IF you think elimination of SS is a good policy, I think the fairest way to do so would be through gradual decreases in benefits on a fixed schedule. The rate at which the benefits decrease should be gradual enough to allow people enough time to make up for what they planned to be getting.

[lehighguy]

There used to be a link somewhere to a budget calculator, but lets start simple.

Eliminate 80% of DoD spending over 4 years. That would make a big impact quickly. All "pork" programs that are really easy to recognize (I'd start with the pork book). Phase out SS and Medicare over a 20 year period. That would be a good start.

[John Kilduff]

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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.

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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?

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Are those inflation-adjusted dollars? If so, SWEET JESUS [censored] CHRIST!

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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.

[Dan.]

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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.

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But then the government would never go away. Do you see why?

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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.

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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!

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Actually this would be pretty sweet and...dare I say...I may just prefer this to anarchy. I mean eventually we would get down to like 5 guys who are 'the government' and then 4, 3, 2, 1...1 with a smaller budget, and smaller, and smaller. I would be loving life if I could just follow this guy around in my spare time and bust his balls! hahaa

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i rofled pretty hard