With everything that has happened in the last few months, especially Hurricane Katrina, the need for fiscal sanity in Washington has grown. Unfortunately, no one seems to have any idea where to start. Here's where.
The fine folks at Citizens Against Government Waste have put together their annual Prime Cuts database... a list of over 600 government programs which could be cut or restructured to save money, to the tune of $250 billion in one year, and a whopping $2 TRILLION over five years. I've taken the liberty of putting CAGW's data into Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets. The first is CAGW's full list, the second is my personal revisions (A slightly more modest $242 billion in one year, $1.92 billion over five)
You can sort the lists by agency, by savings, or by source using the "Data" "Sort" function on the Excel toolbar. You can even make your own list of cuts! (To remove a line and spare it from the ax, simply right click on the desired cell, select "delete" and "delete row." Then print your picks and fax them to your Senators and Representatives (you know who yours are, RIGHT?). Heck, send a copy to President Bush, since he's ultimately responsible for the budget.
Spreadsheets here:
Happy cutting!
Posted by Thief at September 19, 2005 01:26 PM