GM Bailout: Good News For the Economy

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Ragusa, they want to cut welfare, SS, health care, and social programs because those are the other 800 lb gorillas in the room. To be sure, we spend way more than we should on defense spending, and that's one of the 'sacred cows' that the deficit reduction proposal skewers, but it's hardly the only one.
Social Security: 21.0%
Defense Department: 16.6%
Medicare 13.3%
Unemployment/Welfare: 11.2%
Interest on Debt: 9%
Medicaid and SCHIP: 7.2%
The Wars: 5%
Health and Human Services: 2.4%
Education: 1.9%
...

Of course, SS is currently self-funding, but that still leaves the 'social programs' like Medicare and unemployment as the bulk of our spending, with the military being the other bulk. Also, much of that is what is commonly called 'mandatory spending'. I think, though, that that's a gross misnomer. It's spending authorized in bills other than appropriation acts, but that's all. Since it's Congress that's making the decisions, that's a meaningless distinction. It's a matter of paperwork, not ability. We could cut SS. It'd be political hell, but we could do it. We could cut unemployment. A lot of people wouldn't like it, but we could do it. And that defense spending isn't the wasteful devil most liberals think it is:
Operations and maintenance: $283.3 billion
Military Personnel: $154.2 billion
Procurement: $140.1 billion
Research, Development, Testing & Evaluation: $79.1 billion
Military Construction: $23.9 billion
Family Housing: $3.1 billion
Total Spending: $685.1 billion

The reality is that we need a military of some kind, and that there isn't much point in the US being #2. By that I mean that either we're #1 or we may as well drop back behind most all of the western world. Positions like #2 and #3 are only important to those who are trying to be #1. So, the biggest portion of spending is Operations and Maintenance. Without cutting the military too much, we probably can't do too much here, but we may be able to trim. Military personnel is likewise. Procurement and R&D could probably be cut considerably, but together they're not even a third of the spending. Sure, we can make some cuts, even deep ones, but if we want to maintain our status as #1 power in the world, we can only go so deep.

Of course, dropping out of #1 power in the world is an option, and one that, ideally, would be considered. Realistically, though, it'd be political suicide for whoever proposed it, even liberals.

 

NOG,
considering that ...

... there appears to be ample for for cuts while staying safe. IMO such cuts are inevitable. Oh wait, there is a way to finance all that - just lower taxes