Budget Crisis Has State and Local Govts. Cutting to the Bone

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. - Thomas Jefferson.

Just the beginning, it will get much worse

At the Ferderal level, I hope the Super Committee fails so that automatic cuts can go across the board, including the defense budget. We will then see what "fat' there is in that government budget.

removing the lightpoles cost more than keeping them- who is getting paid to remove them union government workers?

cut the wages and the benefits of the public sector. not the services. If they dont like it- hire someone that will do it for less.

You are not entitled to a job, government or not.

Stop the earmarks end the perks for themselves and staff members and go after waste & fraud which no one ever takes on.

The vast majority of law enforcement goes toward fighting crimes invented by the state itself. In particular, the drug war accounts for over half of law enforcement. If we legalized recreational drugs, we could cut law enforcement budgets by more 50% without cutting enforcment of laws people are truly concerned about, things like robbery, rape, and murder. Not only that, but secondary violence related to drug turf wars would also go away. The drug related anarchy we are seeing in Mexicon would be solved. The number one funding mechanism for terrorism would go away. ...and we would have a new source of "sin tax" revenue on top of all that. Sadly, Americans have been brainwashed into equating the existence of a law with the solution of a problem, and so real solutions like ending the drug war, can never materialize.

Well watch what happens in Ohio over the next five years because of the vote yesterday

Budget Crisis Has State and Local Govts. Cutting to the Bone

Which many of us know is a lie. When they give up all their PERKS that's cutting to the bone.

Washington, you're next.

My guess is that many local govts are cutting the bone and not the fat (i.e. their inflated salaries, pensions, & perks like cellphones). Same thing applies to the federal govt.

Philadelphia - population drops by 40%, city council members remain the same; housing prices drop by 30%, real estate taxes rise 13.8%; unemployment jumps, city employees get double pay for their last four years; we have not seen cutting to the bone in Philadelphia yet. Cut the DROP program and pay employees a fair salary, but not double for the last four years.

No, it's not what we want. Local governments are cutting where they can instead of cutting what counts. For example entitlements. It's time that public workers pay into their pensions and healthcare plans. We can't sustain lifetime pensions and heathcare. Ilegal immigration. It's very expensive to states. Social security is a viable system, but not in it's current form. You see, these are the tough things that most people want addressed, but there not doing it because it's too difficult. Shutting off traffic lights is much easier...

God, you can just see the pain in the faces of Aaron and Henry when they talk about
cutting government. I love it!

There is so much waste in all sectors/levels of government....Just take some time and take a good look at your local departments, you won't believe your eyes...Get involved locally....

In my small community in NW Indiana...the home values keep declining - BUT - we just received our new real estate assessment for the year...guess what - our home values went up!!!
Yep, you guessed it... the values went up just enough to raise our taxes but not enough to file a complaint and if you have your home appraised independently to have the value lowered - the cost of the appraisal is more than you would save on taxes!!! What a crappy way to treat the citizens...

Deport illegal aliens and their anchor babies. Americans need their jobs

There is no "Budget" problem.
There is a spending problem.
Government spends like drunken sailors to appease all.
American households follow by example.

The tendency is to spend now and rack up debt. It's okay because we'll have more money tomorrow.
This is unrealistic and we have to hit the reset button.

Industrial Psy 101. Businesses must have profit to grow and for employees to advance therefore employees are motivated to save money, increase productivity and innovate. Government employees grow their departments to secure their jobs therefore they are motivated to spend more money, and expand programs. They will also create a "need" where none exists.

Businesses are motivated by lean efficiency. Governments are motivated by waste and bloat. If govt agencies actually fixed the problem they were created to fix. They would be out of a job and a govt. pension. The motivation is to not fix the problem.

You ain't seen nothin yet.....

private sector has been chopped, now when the public sector faces cuts it's a catastrophicy. Were they removing the lights in foreclosed neighborhoods?