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tazzygirl -> RE: What Would Happen If Aliens... (9/10/2010 11:17:56 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: ErrynRed
quote:
ORIGINAL: StrongSpirit
The government would do the obvious - Raise taxes. People would understand, we did it in World War II.
Non-partisan Facts:
1) Over 90% of the US budget is composed of things that we either legally can not cut (interest on the debt, etc.) or things that over 70% of Americans like and want (Social Security, the FBI, federal prisons, judges, Roads, etc.). Trying to cut these things is a great way to quit politics.
2) Most of the remaining 10% is composed of very small things. Lots of tiny things like administration, etc. The biggest chunk is the Department of Education (and much of it's budget is college loans)., which is why every once in a while a conservative talks about removing the Dep of Education. But then the Liberals point out the poor state of our education and start talking about how most of that money directly affects how many americans go to college.
3) Cutting programs makes makes almost no political sense because in almost every case we are talking about very small contributions to the budget that really piss off a small number of politically active constituents. In effect, no one gets any credit for lowering the budget, but the congressman whose district suffer get a TON of flack. Surprise surprise, things don't get cut unless someone portrays them as being a symbol of waste ("Bridge to Nowhere")
Yeah, but then the senate and such get a sgnificant raise EVERY year. They are making more than the president does. If we cut from that and make it so that they don't get that raise every year, we could put a good sized dent in the debt.
Mostly because they are making around a million a year.
LOL... your post is funny!
Congress is required by Article I, Section 6, of the Constitution to determine its
own pay. Prior to 1969, Congress did so by enacting stand-alone legislation. From
1789 through 1968, Congress raised its pay 22 times using this procedure.
Congressional salaries initially were $1,500. By 1968, they had risen to $30,000.
Stand-alone legislation may still be used to raise Member pay, as it was most recently in 1982, 1983, 1989, and 1991, but two other methods — including an automatic annual adjustment procedure and a commission process — are now also available.
Under the annual adjustment procedure, Members are scheduled to receive a 2.8%
adjustment in January 2009. Members originally were scheduled to receive a 2.7%
increase in January 2008. The increase was revised to 2.5%, resulting in a salary in
2008 of $169,300, to match the percent increase in the base pay of General Schedule
(GS) employees. By law, Members may not receive an increase greater than the increase in the base pay of GS employees. Congress voted to deny the scheduled January 2007 adjustment. Members previously received a pay increase (1.9%) in January 2006, increasing their salary to the rate of $165,200.
http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/97-1011.pdf
try actually getting accurate figures.
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