Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below:
Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Here are a few more I just emailed to him myself at 10pm CST.
Senator Rand Paul on Feb 7, 2011 wrote the article “A Modest $500 Billion Proposal: My spending cuts would keep 85% of government funding and not touch Social Security,” Wall Street Journal and he observed:
Here are some of his specific suggestions:
Interior
Agency/Program Funding Level Savings % Decrease
Interior $3.111 B $10.934 B 78%
The Department of Interior is responsible for managing millions of acres of land, forests and parks, as well as building
dams. The department has consistently been given poor management ratings by the White House’s Office of
Management and Budget, and provides many functions that could be reduced or privatized. This proposal includes
taking many programs back to FY2008 levels, and includes additional cuts or elimination of certain programs,
including the Land and Mineral Management, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Geological Survey, the National Park
Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Land and Mineral Management: Reduce 50 percent
The management of public lands and resources is best left up to the states. States have firsthand knowledge about
what is good for them and the best ways to use their lands for energy, recreation, and natural beauty.
Bureau of Reclamation: Eliminate
Established in 1902, the Bureau of Reclamation has held a majority of the dams, hydroelectric power plants, and
canals in the western most 17 states. They are the largest wholesaler of water in the country and provide water for
farmers in those states.
Owning a majority block of energy and water resources is not the business of the federal government. Water rights
should be controlled by the states and agreements can be made between the states to ensure water supply to all.
U.S. Geological Survey: Reduce 29 percent
The U.S. Geological Survey is the largest water, earth, and biological science civilian mapping agency in the United
States. Though these are important activities, they can be given to state researchers at our colleges and universities,
without having large numbers of regional executives and multiple offices.
National Park Service: Reduce 42 percent
In 2009, repairs were performed on the Vietnam Memorial and those repairs were done without the use of taxpayer
funds. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund took over the duties of preserving the memorial because the National
Park Service did not have the resources from the federal government.
Every year the amount of appropriations increase to the National Park Service, yet both the GAO and the
Congressional Research Services have stated that NPS’s backlog on projects and maintenance would cost several
billion dollars to the American taxpayer. National Parks have seen a decrease in visitors and campers each year due
to trash, lack of facilities, or even safety. Returning these public lands back to the states and or the private sector
would allow an increase in quality, safety and a reduction in government spending each year.
Bureau of Indian Affairs: Eliminate
For far too long, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has swindled and mismanaged billions of dollars in Indian trust funds.
Former Special Trustee Thomas Slonaker in 2004 testified that they Department of the Interior and the BIA were
incapable of reform and were unwilling to hold people accountable for their actions. In addition, Paul Homan also has
testified before Congress saying that a “vast majority of upper and middle management at the BIA were incompetent.
Instead of wasting taxpayer funds throwing money into a bureau of corruption and incompetency, eliminate them and
allow the tribes to manage their own trust funds independently without government intervention.
The Daily Hatch 