Comment by toomuchtodo
4 hours ago
https://usafacts.org/articles/how-much-of-the-federal-budget...
> The US government spent $6.2 trillion in total in 2023, with $1.7 trillion on discretionary spending, $3.8 trillion on mandatory spending, and $659 billion on net interest. Discretionary spending includes funding for defense, education, transportation, and scientific research. Approximately half of federal discretionary spending is allocated to defense.
So I suppose I would agree with your assertion that there is a lot to cut if we're talking about cutting defense spending and interest on the debt via more taxes to pay down the debt (to reduce forward debt servicing obligations). Can't keep cutting taxes for the wealthy with the expectation that is going to reduce spending or increase overall federal tax income, as the evidence shows it will not.
Per the link you provided https://usafacts.org/government-spending/
2024 - $6.8 trillion in spending
$1.3 trillion Defense, $323 billion of which is veteran support (pensions, retirement, medicare, etc).
Discretionary spending is a misnomer that assumes all of the other spending levels just have to be maintained as is, are without fraud, run efficiently and impossible to reform.
Cut 20% across the board from every agency for starters (including Defense). That gets us back from $7.5 trillion to $6 trillion. Then do it again 2 years later and get us back to $4.8 trillion. Then do it again.
States have limited budgets and must balance it all the time. Companies as well. There's no reason the federal government cannot do exactly the same thing.
"Wealthy people" didn't cause the US government to spend an extra $3.5 trillion a year over a decade ago and this idea of raising taxes more on those people wouldn't even begin to address the spending problem.
> Discretionary spending is a misnomer that assumes all of the other spending levels just have to be maintained as is, are without fraud, run efficiently and impossible to reform.
We disagree on the fundamental problem, and I believe your solution is wildly irresponsible to "just keep cutting 20%." You say fraud; prove the fraud. DOGE couldn't find any, so "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." Fraud has a very clear definition versus "spending I do not like or approve of."
The $21.7 Billion Blunder: New PSI Report Reveals Billions in Taxpayer Dollars Squandered by DOGE - https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/07/... - July 21st, 2025 (Report [pdf]: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025-07-31-M...)
The reality of DOGE's mediocre savings - https://fordschool.umich.edu/news/2025/reality-doges-mediocr... - February 25th, 2025
DOGE and “Waste, Fraud, and Abuse” - https://www.cato.org/blog/doge-waste-fraud-abuse - February 20th, 2025
> "Wealthy people" didn't cause the US government to spend an extra $3.5 trillion a year over a decade ago and this idea of raising taxes more on those people wouldn't even begin to address the spending problem.
I mean, this is the government they created over decades, including influencing elections through dark money spending, and they have all the wealth. Tax cuts for the wealthy are a material component of the debt the US carries today. Where else would we get it from? More tax and spending cuts? This is very unlikely, feel free to confirm with an NGO like USAFacts or Brookings on the topic.
How four decades of tax cuts fueled inequality - https://publicintegrity.org/inequality-poverty-opportunity/t... - November 29th, 2022
Popular support is very high for taxing the wealthy more, ~80% as of this comment in some cases.
Most Americans continue to favor raising taxes on corporations, higher-income households - https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/03/19/most-amer... - March 19th, 2025
>"Wealthy people" didn't cause the US government to spend an extra $3.5 trillion a year over a decade ago
But... They did. Who do you think wanted Trump's tax cuts on wealthy businesses?
Who do you think pushed for Reagan's tax cuts on wealthy businesses while also drastically increasing defense spending?
Who do you think still is pushing reduced taxes for wealthy businesses?
"We've cut all taxes from the wealthy and the tax number keeps going down, what can we possibly do?"