Trump budget plan, 2018

Looks like a good start,

President Trump's fiscal 2018 budget proposal would completely eliminate 66 federal programs, for a savings of $26.7 billion.  

Some of the programs would receive funding for 2018 as part of a phasing-out plan.

I am sure that there is much more that could be eliminated / shrunk. A few billion here, a few billion there and pretty soon you are talking about real money.

Go Trump!

Trump budget plan, EPA hardest hit

What do you call an EPA budget cut of 31%? A nice start...

Under the March proposal, the EPA was due to absorb a 31 percent funding cut. If enacted, that plan would discontinue funding for programming, research and diplomatic efforts related to climate change, end more than 50 EPA programs and cut 3,200 of the agency's 15,000 jobs.

If they were focused more on their core mandates like superfund, NOT dumping gallons and gallons of toxic water into rivers, and serving as an industry watchdog, they likely would not be in the situation they are.

Sorry but CO2 is NOT a toxin and does not need to be EPA controlled.

Nice start President Trump! Don't STOP!

On a related topic, Trump's confirmations are being stalled by Democrats. Trump should announce that any agency without Trump confirmed heads come budget approval time, get NO funding period. If the confirmations are so unimportant the the Democrats can't be bothered to work the process, those departments must not be important either and should be done away with / unfunded. That might focus some minds and/or save more money...

EPA accident causes more water pollution than fracking

1 million gallons of acidic wastewater spills, creating environmental and PR catastrophe

Treasury Department Seeking Survival Kits For Bank Employees

Sorry but what the heck is the Treasury Department doing, seeking to acquire survival kits for its employees?

The Department of Treasury is seeking to order survival kits for all of its employees who oversee the federal banking system, according to a new solicitation.

These are not major league kits by any measure as they are "fanny pack" size but that just begs the question all the more, why? For what purpose?

The survival kits must come in a fanny-pack or backpack that can fit all of the items, including a 33-piece personal first aid kit with “decongestant tablets,” a variety of bandages, and medicines.

The kits must also include a “reusable solar blanket” 52 by 84 inches long, a 2,400-calorie food bar, “50 water purification tablets,” a “dust mask,” “one-size fits all poncho with hood,” a rechargeable lantern with built-in radio, and an “Air-Aid emergency mask” for protection against airborne viruses.

Based on the number of employees and the solicitation amount, these survival kits will cost $50 or less per. For what purpose? In the realm of Government, this is not a noticeable amount of money but it is also a weird thing for the Treasury Department to get. Who is requesting this purchase and why?

Has the EPA been doing illegal human experiments for years?

Either the EPA is sponsoring horrific human experiments, or they are lying to the Congress about the toxicity of air pollution.

If the testimony in Congress by Ms. Jackson and the opinion of Jon Samet are sincerely held they are committing a criminal unethical and immoral act by exposing unknowing individuals to lethal. harmful or carcinogenic air pollutants in violation of American and International Law.


Either the EPA is lying about the toxicity of small particle air pollution which is a fraud on the citizens and misconduct in a position of trust.

OR

The EPA is funding and sponsoring and Medical Schools are complicit in unethical and immoral/illegal human experiments.


What’ll it be?

Yes, which is it? Is the EPA complicit in illegal human experimentation or have they lied for years about the dangers of small particle are pollution?

Obamacare realities

Well it looks like the "new reality" is starting to sink in and even those that chose to be willfully blind are starting to notice.

• Former MSNBC Host’s Health Plan Cancelled, New Plan Costs 3.5 Times More

But don't worry because the exchanges are working so very well!

• In NC "only 1,000 people had filled out applications as of October 15th. In fact, only one person was able to successfully use Healthcare.gov to enroll in the new exchange." but "even that single person has not paid, which means the enrollment is not complete"

I am sure that they will run this program so much better than their "free cell phone" program. The size of Obamacare makes the cell phone program look like a lemonade stand and look how well they have been managing that program!

• The government spent $2.2 billion on the program last year alone, and a review of the top five providers by the FCC for the Wall Street Journal showed that 41 percent, or six million of their free-phone subscribers, couldn’t demonstrate eligibility or failed to respond to requests for certification.

So, with this as typical Government competence in running large programs, I am sure we don't have anything to worry about. The "glitches" will be worked out any day now and then it will be all smooth sailing!

It is getting to the point that the most frightening words you can ever hear are: We are from the Government and are here to help.

The truth about Ethanol

Ethanol as a fuel source is a bad answer. It takes food out of consumption and turns it into bad fuel. By bad fuel, I mean it takes more energy to produce ethanol from corn than you get from the resulting ethanol. Most recent information on the process states that it takes 1.5 gallons of fuel energy to produce one gallon of ethanol fuel energy.

So, producing ethanol results in:

- higher food prices due to the loss of food corn

- higher energy prices due to the process loss from producing ethanol

- higher vehicle maintenance costs due to the corrosive affects of ethanol on nonmetallic engine parts

All so the ethanol lobby can make lots of money for a product that makes no economic sense and so "greens" can feel better about "doing something" for the planet that actually makes things worse for the planet.

Things will only be getting worse as the ethanol additive rates are set to increase from up to 10% ethanol to the newer up to 15% ethanol standard.

Balance the budget without tax increases

Watch this video, it clearly shows that it is possible to balance the Federal budget without any tax increases and without the typical Washington "smoke and mirrors" tricks.

$27.6M for Lowercase Street Signs in NYC

Due to new DOT regulations, localities have until 2018 to replace all of their street signs with new ones that use a mix of upper and lower case letters and a new font, all in the name of improved driver safety. In NYC alone, it is expected to cost $27.6 million.

I wonder, is the expected savings in reduced fatalities and physical damage going to exceed $27 million in NYC? The article does not link to the study that is used to justify this expense and change. If this change is expected to cost $27 million, will the insurance rates for New Yorkers go down by that amount? If not, why is it being done? Why not just release the new standard and mandate that all new or replaced signs follow the new standard? Why force a wide-scale swap-out?

Documented Government Failure, example #1

I am going to try and keep track of these and to get us going...

‘Head Start’: The $166 Billion Fed Ed Failure

So, in typical Government fashion, they have wasted $166 billion since 1965 on a program that does not show any measurable benefits. If anyone thinks that this will result in the ending of an obviously wasteful and useless government program, I have some bridges to sell you.

Hey GOP and independents, if you want to get elected or stay elected, promise to push to end all of these wasteful program! Yes it will be a fight but it is worth it. Force the Democrats to justify keeping these types of programs around. Force them to go on the record supporting failed and expensive programs.