The War on PBS, and serious budget-cutting.

[slingshot]

I think the government can dump funding PBS and the "Arts".  I see no reason to borrow money so we can fund PBS or the arts.

[Scout26]

Got to start some where...

[Jamisjockey]

Got to start some where...

This.

Riddle me this, all the people who don't think it's a big deal.
Say you take a pay cut.
You have a daily Starbucks habit. $4 a day is nothing compared to other ways to blow a paycheck. 
But should you really keep spending that $4 a day?

[Balog]

This.

Riddle me this, all the people who don't think it's a big deal.
Say you take a pay cut.
You have a daily Starbucks habit. $4 a day is nothing compared to other ways to blow a paycheck. 
But should you really keep spending that $4 a day?

No. But if you're $3000 a month short income vs expenditures, saying "Well I stopped going to Starbucks!" like it actually means anything is stupid.

This is both a pointless gesture to "look like we're doing something" as well as an unpopular one. It's a dog and pony show, and a distraction.

If you have a cold and brain cancer then both are medical issues that need addressed, but if the Dr is only working on the cold it's pointless.

[Monkeyleg]

It's not pointless. If you can't cut the $4/day Starbucks expense, how do you expect to tackle the $150/month bundled cable bill?

If they can't agree to cut funding for small things, then they'll never reach agreement on the big things.

[Balog]

It's not pointless. If you can't cut the $4/day Starbucks expense, how do you expect to tackle the $150/month bundled cable bill?

If they can't agree to cut funding for small things, then they'll never reach agreement on the big things.

See, I don't agree with that. If they cut small things, they can "look like they're doing something" and run and get elected as a budget cutter. If you're trying to talk someone into an amputation, you have a lot better chance with "you have gangrene in that leg, it's lose it or die" vs "well, it won't really accomplish much of anything but hey, you gotta start somewhere."

It's because budget cuts are so unpopular that we need to be making substantiative arguments about actual changes that will actually make a difference, not this feel good window dressing BS.

[longeyes]

We are all going to have to re-define what's "essential."

That doesn't mean we have to do without it; it does mean we will have to do without overt and covert subsidies and take full responsibility for our wants and desires.

This is the crux of it.  Government doesn't get to set the rules for The People.

[Perd Hapley]

It's because budget cuts are so unpopular that we need to be making substantiative arguments about actual changes that will actually make a difference, not this feel good window dressing BS.

Of course.

[Ron]

Maybe a president Romney will compromise and allow funding for the evil PBS in exchange for real tax/entitlement reform.   

I know, pipe dream... 

[seeker_two]

Got to start some where...

Agreed....as long as PBS is the start....not the end....

[SteveS]

Agreed....as long as PBS is the start....not the end....

I doubt it will be more than this.  Cutting PBS, which amounts to .012% of the budget, won't do much, but it polls well with most conservatives.  Other more substantial cuts may not, so I doubt we will see any meaningful reform.

[longeyes]

Making the draconian cuts that are necessary to deal with our fiscal problems requires moral and social re-setting, not just bipartisan tweaks to our tax code, etc.  We have not even begun to discuss who is "worthy," for example, of "help," and why.  We continue to avoid the hard, raw questions that must in the end be posed.  You will notice, for example, that so far there has not been a word about immigration in three hours of debate; don't expect much if anything tonight.

[ArfinGreebly]

What was the actual process Romney used to lower government spending in Massachusetts?

Somehow he balanced the budget with no increase in taxes.

He's proposing to do something similar with the Federal budget.  What are the mechanics of that?

There was no PBS to de-fund in MA.  And, while I'm sure there were plenty of random little things that got cut, surely he addressed some larger things?

And then there's Scott Walker, whom I believe has more lately done something similar to reduce the structural deficit in Wisconsin.

What did those guys do that actually cut spending?

[Balog]

Romney took used a lot of fed.gov funds to cover shortfalls in MA's budget.

[ArfinGreebly]

Romney took used a lot of fed.gov funds to cover shortfalls in MA's budget.

Bummer.

That's not a structural remedy.

[longeyes]

You were maybe expecting a real conservative?

No real conservative is going to get anywhere near any prospective American election, not in this America.