Budget Illiteracy
Jesse Taylor bangs his head against the wall as he realizes that Glenn Reynolds knows next to nothing about what the government spends money on:
Pandagon: As far as I can tell, the conservative conception of the federal budget is a lot like a 4-year-old's, except that "candy" is replaced with "DARE funding". Instapundit asks where budget cuts should be made in order to pay for Katrina recovery, and here's the post in full:
FUNDING KATRINA RELIEF: Bush seems to be shoveling out the cash, which has led some people to suggest cutbacks elsewhere -- though curiously the press mostly seems to mention Iraq. Here's an InstaPundit poll on the question that explores some other alternatives. Express yourselves!
Where should we cut spending to finance Katrina relief?
- Farm subsidies
- Federal support for public broadcasting
- The DARE program
- Congressional travel and staff allowances
- All of the above
There's a reason the press mentions Iraq - it costs a lot of f------ money. Guess what? You want to cull money from the federal budget, defense is likely the first place you're going to find it, particularly in an unpopular and unfocused war effort that's spinning its wheels.
Federal support for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is $400 million a year. DARE, according to its opponents, spends $700 million a year...but only about one percent comes from federal funding - around $7 million, at its highest. Slashing congressional travel and staff allowances would likely save money - but you're talking about the hundreds of millions at best, not billions. Farm subsidies are the only truly fruitful area of slashing, but the fact that three areas that would barely scrape together a billion dollars are being shoved in with an area that constitutes (as of 2003) $16 billion in federal spending says something really disturbing - conservatives want to cut a budget they know nothing about in order to run a government they know even less about.
You've gotta wonder what these fiscal illiterates think these programs actually cost. And then you have to laugh at them. Repeatedly.
