The Daily Hatch

Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending and I sent them to him but he didn’t take any of my suggestions.

However, he did take time to get back to me today, but I am not too impressed with Senator Pryor’s response. I gave him hundreds of ideas about how to cut spending and as far as I can tell he has taken none of my suggestions. You can find some of my suggestions here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here,  here, and  here, and they all were emailed to him. In fact, I have written 13 posts pointing out reasons why I believe Senator Pryor’s re-election attempt will be unsuccessful.

Here is his response:

September 6, 2012

Dear Mr. Hatcher,

Thank you for contacting me regarding across-the-board cuts to federal programs scheduled to take effect in 2013. I appreciate hearing from you. 

On August, 2, 2011, Congress passed the Budget Control Act of 2011 (Public Law 112-25), which made nearly $1 trillion in initial spending cuts. To achieve additional, long-term savings, the law created a bipartisan select committee to make recommendations to reduce deficits by an additional $1.5 trillion over the next ten years. The law also created an enforcement mechanism to automatically sequester $1.2 trillion from federal spending if the select committee failed to agree on a deficit reduction package. 

I am disappointed that the members of the select committee could not reach an agreement. As a result, $1.2 trillion in spending cuts will automatically take effect in January 2013. Cuts will come from both defense and non-defense programs, though Social Security, Medicaid, veterans’ benefits and healthcare, and certain programs for low-income families will be exempted. Further, cuts to Medicare are limited to 2% and only apply to provider payments.

It was my sincere hope that the select committee would recommend a balanced deficit reduction package to put our country on a fiscally sustainable path. I am very concerned that the indiscriminate cuts from the sequester will be disproportionately harmful to rural states like Arkansas, to senior citizens, and to our military’s ability to respond to threats. 

Along with many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I have been working and will continue to work on solving our nation’s fiscal challenges. I believe Congress can pass a bipartisan, balanced long-term budget plan that reduces our national debt while protecting our most vulnerable citizens. Hearing from Arkansans such as yourself helps me make better decisions, and I will be sure to keep your specific comments in mind as the Senate addresses this issue. 

Again, thank you for contacting me. I value your input. Please do not hesitate to contact me or my office regarding this or any other matter of concern to you.

 
Sincerely,

Mark Pryor
United States Senate

Save money at the pump by taking the Drive Smarter Challenge: www.drivesmarterchallenge.org

Please Note, this is not a monitored email account. Due to the sheer volume of correspondence I receive, I ask that constituents please contact me via my website with any responses or additional concerns.

___________

Below is an excellent plan to balance the budget through spending cuts from Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute written in April of 2011. I sent this to Senator Pryor too but it was ignored too. 

A Plan to Cut Spending and Balance the Federal Budget

by Chris Edwards, Cato Institute

Introduction
Reducing Spending over 10 Years
Spending Cut Details
Subsidies to Individuals and Businesses
Aid to State and Local Governments
Military Expenses
Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security
Privatization
Conclusions

Spending Cut Details

Table 1 lists the proposed annual cuts for the balanced budget plan. By 2021, these include $150 billion in defense cuts and $490 billion in cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and the 2010 health care law. The table also includes other discretionary and entitlement cuts valued at $445 billion in 2011. With the assumed revenues, all these spending cuts would be saving the government $260 billion in annual interest costs by 2021.⁷ All in all, total spending in 2021 under this plan would be about $1.4 trillion lower than under either the CBO baseline or the president’s budget.

As a technical note, most of the figures in Table 1 are outlays for fiscal 2011 from President Obama’s fiscal 2012 budget.⁸ These cuts are expressed in 2011 dollars, but I’ve assumed that the value of these cuts would grow over time at the same rate as discretionary spending in the CBO baseline. The cuts in Table 1 marked with an asterisk are expressed in 2021 dollars and are generally based on CBO estimates.

The reforms listed in the table are deeper than the “duplication” and “waste” items often mentioned by federal policymakers, such as earmarks. The reality is that the nation faces a fiscal emergency, and we need to cut hundreds of billions of dollars of “meat” from federal departments, not just the obvious “fat.” If the activities to be cut are useful to society, then state governments or private groups should fund them, and those entities would probably be more efficient at doing so.

The cuts in Table 1 are illustrative of how to begin getting the federal budget under control. Further reforms are needed in addition to these cuts, particularly structural changes to Medicare. But the important thing is to start cutting right away because the longer we wait, the deeper the pile of debt we will have to dig out from.

Table 1 includes cuts to individual and business subsidies, cuts to state aid, cuts to military expenses, cuts to the growth in entitlement programs, and privatization of federal activities. The sections following the table discuss these various types of cuts, and further analysis of the cuts is available at www.DownsizingGovernment.org.

Table 1 Proposed Federal Budget Cuts
Agency and Activity			Annual Savings
			$ billion
Department of Agriculture
	End farm subsidies		29.5
	Cut food subsidies by 50 percent		52.7
	End rural subsidies		4.2
	Total cuts		86.4
Department of Commerce
	End telecom subsidies		2.3
	End economic development subsidies		0.6
	Total cuts		2.9
Department of Defense
	Enact Preble/Friedman reforms**		150.0
Department of Education
	End K-12 education subsidies		52.7
	End student aid and all other programs		33.1
	Total cuts (terminate the department)		85.8
Department of Energy
	End subsidies for energy efficiency		10.2
	End subsidies for vehicle technologies		5.2
	End the technology loan program		1.2
	End electricity research subsidies		2.0
	End fossil energy research		1.1
	Privatize the power marketing administrations		0.5
	End nuclear energy subsidies		0.6
	Total cuts		20.8
Department of Health and Human Services
	Block grant Medicaid and freeze spending**		226.0
	Repeal 2010 health care law**		87.0
	Increase Medicare premiums**		39.8
	Cut non-Medicaid state/local grants by 50%		37.7
	Cut Medicare payment error rate by 50%		28.6
	Increase Medicare deductibles**		12.6
	Tort reform		10.0
	Total cuts		441.7
Department of Housing and Urban Development
	End rental assistance		28.6
	End community development subsidies		15.0
	End public housing subsidies		8.9
	End housing finance and all other programs		8.3
	Total cuts (terminate the department)		60.8
Department of Justice
	End state and local grants		5.0
Department of Labor
	End employment and training services		4.8
	End Job Corps		1.7
	End Community Service for Seniors		0.8
	End trade adjustment assistance		1.3
	Total cuts		8.6
Social Security
	Price index initial benefits**		41.1
	Raise the normal retirement age**		31.4
	Cut Social Security disability program by 10%		13.2
	Total cuts		85.7
Department of Transportation
	End urban transit grants (federal fund savings)		5.8
	Privatize air traffic control (federal fund savings)		5.8
	Privatize Amtrak and end rail subsidies		2.9
	Total cuts		14.5
Department of the Treasury
	Cut earned income tax credit by 50%		22.5
	End refundable part of child tax credit		22.9
	Total cuts		45.4
Other Savings
	Cut federal civilian compensation costs 10%		29.6
	Cut foreign development aid by 50%		5.2
	Cut NASA spending by 50%		9.8
	Privatize the Corps of Engineers (Civil Works)		10.6
	Repeal Davis-Bacon labor rules		9.0
	End EPA state and local grants		6.5
	End foreign military financing		5.4
	End subsidies for the Corp. for Nat. Comm. Srv.		0.6
	End subsidies to the Corp. for Public Broadcasting		0.5
	End the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp.		0.2
	Total cuts		77.4
Grand total annual spending cuts			$1,084.9
Note: Data items are outlays for fiscal 2011, but items with ** refer to the value of savings in 2021.

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