Screw the Details! Screw the Foreigners!

A recent poll by The Economist/YouGov revealed some pretty interesting results, as posted by Stan Collender. Over 62 percent of those polled thought we should cut spending rather than raise taxes to balance the budget. However, when asked which programs they'd most likely want cut, a vast majority -- 71 percent -- said that foreign aid should be cut. Additionally, 93 percent opposed cuts to Medicare or Social Security, the two biggest items in our budget.

As I've noted earlier, the U.S. spent just $40 billion on foreign aid last year. A mote of dust in the overall scheme of the U.S. budget. But nearly three-quarters of the people in the survey felt that was the most cut-worthy item in the budget. Cut it to zero, however, and it won't make a dent, so what's their point? It's this: fuck foreign aid and fuck foreigners. We're tired of our good tax money going over there to support communists, socialists, black people, and Muslim terrorists!

In answer to Stan's question: What would you do if you were a member of Congress facing this situation? I'd be holding town hall meetings every month in my district to anyone who would want to hear how the budget is structured, and then I'd go to my local TV news station and newpaper and answer questions about the budget. And I wouldn't stop talking about the budget until people understood that a cut in foreign aid doesn't mean squat. I'd also be very clear that if budget cuts are what they want, look at the biggest items and start there. Then I'd make them understand that budget cuts in any area mean cuts in jobs, which mean cuts in jobs for those in ancillary areas that serve the government, which might mean lost jobs in their town, county, or state. People think a tax increase is an immediate job loser? Both are an immediate loss of money to a business or consumer, which has far-reaching effects across the economy. If people want a balanced budget, demand less from government, or pay for what they ask for, or don't gripe when the government has to go into debt to pay for it.

People think being in Congress is such an easy job? I certainly wouldn't want it!