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1. 

   Tigger said, 5 months ago

   Yet you demonize Republicans for doing this
2. 

   Rockngolfer said, 5 months ago

   Reminds me of North Korea.
   Yesterday was Kim Jong “W” Un’s birthday, he was 30.
   He took over from Kim Jong “Poppy” Il. Next in line is Kim Jong “Jeb!” Yuk.
3. 

   Radish said, 5 months ago

   We have to raise the debt ceiling to spend more on the most expensive military in the world.
4. 

   Respectful Troll said, 5 months ago

   There are many ways to lower defense spending.
   1 – Retiring military personnel who work with corporations on government contracts should be banned from working for, or on behalf of that company, for 2 to 5 years.
   2 – Senators and Congressmen leaving office should be banned for the same length of time.
   3 – Ban legislators from voting on contracts or bills in which they have a financial interest. Not the way I want to say that, but basically, make them easier to fine/punish if a reasonable connection between a government contract and the performance of their stock portfolio can be identified.
   4 – Create 1000 to 10000 new positions to be filled with accountants, auditors, inspectors, regulators, and enforcers. These positions can be transfers from downsizing the military and other government offices, so there would be no need increase payroll.. Give these inspectors guidelines/laws/rules/etc that are clear and enforce violations severely. The fines accrued would be a well earned tax on their negligence, or worse infraction and help defray costs.
   A single inspector, professional, supported by his office, and unafraid of upsetting an executive or contractor being inspected can keep a levee from breaching, an oil rig from exploding, a coal mine from collapsing, a building from burning,…
   A single auditor/evaluator/efficiency expert, with the support of supervisors and the strength of law, can save billions in lost pensions, ponzie schemes, “creative” finanicing formulas, hyper trading, foreclosures etc.
   If the right person is in the right place and has the confidence to know the office and people served will give support, one person can justify the 20 year budget of an entire office.
   In a world where nations can rise or fall based on the value of currency is a Weapon of Monetary Destruction.
   Respectfully,
   C.
5. 

   rightisright said, 5 months ago

   @Respectful Troll

   Those are some good ideas, but the reality is that even if all this were to pass, there would be workarounds and end runs in place to keep biz as usual before the ink was dry.
6. 

   Stipple said, 5 months ago

   @Respectful Troll

   “I have a dream”
7. 

   ARodney said, 5 months ago

   The defense budget almost doubled since 9/11, not even counting the costs of the wars. With Osama bin Laden gone, we can EASILY reduce defense back to Clinton levels, and be perfectly safe. Especially if we kill expensive boondoggles in fighter jets and missile shields that aren’t operational and have little prospect of having any use. And the point of the cartoon is, if you act as though we shouldn’t raise the debt ceiling, you need to be willing to vastly cut defense. It’s the part of the budget with the most fat.
8. 

   cjr53 said, 5 months ago

   @rightisright

   There you go, don’t put a net in place since it won’t catch some of the fish. Let’s continue to let all of the fish slip through.
9. 

   TheTrustedMechanic said, 5 months ago

   @cjr53

   Now U have a conundrum. For once rightisright is correct, Right is being pragmatic and cynical. But you are also absolutely correct and have a very valid point. If we can move forward with your reasoning but keeping in mind Right’s point too we may be able to actually accomplish something on C Downs list.
10. 

    flake-67121 said, 5 months ago

    I’ll give you ten to one, cut ten defense dollars for every social program dollar cut.
    Real cuts, not cuts to proposed “budgets” which haven’t existed in Zero’s terms.
11. 

    M Ster said, 5 months ago

    I’ll add another item to C Down’s excellent list:
    *
    House members must recuse themselves from voting and/or adding riders to bills where more than 10% of the money would be spent in their voting districts. (I wish this could also be applied to the Senate, but that would mean that Senators from many states would have to recuse themselves from everything.)
12. 

    Baleine said, 4 months ago

    @Respectful Troll

    The problem with auditors is that at some point they will start making cuts for no other reason then to justify their paychecks.
    Once that starts then they become part of the problem.
    Oh…its hard to make intelligent cuts without understanding.
13. 

    mdavis4183 said, 4 months ago

    Defense spending isn’t the problem. $1 trillion thrown in the garbage by obama is the problem. Free money giveaways to unions and his supporters.
14. 

    M Ster said, 4 months ago

    @mdavis4183

    Please list the dollar amounts of any giveaways by Obama to unions. Can you come up with any that add up to even 1/1000th of $1 trillion?
15. 

    dtroutma said, 4 months ago

    “Defense” and “Homeland Security” (33 new agencies created) blew that roof clear off a long time ago. $1.3 TRILLION, JUST for the F-35! MOre subs we don’t need. Retrofitting Abrams tanks the commander doesn’t need, or want! Hugely expensive missiles used to replace bullets. Drones, and of course, faulty showers that kill our troops. Nope there’s absolutely nowhere to look for cuts in “defense”.**sarcasm alert
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