The First Cut is the Lamest

On November 9, 2011, the Obama Administration issued a press release bragging about its efforts to rein in spending on items such as cell phones, smart phones, laptops and swag including, “plaques, clothing, and other unnecessary promotional items.”  The White House estimates that these savings could amount to billions of dollars.  While taxpayers should applaud these efforts as every dollar counts when it comes to saving money, it will take much more than cutting out free Department of Energy t-shirts to get the debt and deficit under control.  And, let’s be honest, how many people do you see walking around with a federal government branded t-shirt or coffee mug? And, if you did, would that really make you feel better about the government?

Now, with the failure of the Super Committee, it is imperative to look at ways to cut spending before it is too late.  What most people don’t realize is that In the past year there have been multiple efforts to identify wasteful spending that the White House should take immediate action to implement.

Let’s start with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which detailed a number of spending cuts in its March 2011 report, “Reducing the Deficit: Spending and Revenue Options.”  The cuts/savings are broken up into three categories: Mandatory (savings would total $29 billion in one year and $590 billion over five years); Defense Discretionary (with total of $10 billion in one year and $178 billion over five years); and Non-Defense Discretionary (with a total of $13 billion in one year and $147 billion over five years).  All told these savings would be more than $900 billion over five years.

Individual CBO recommendations include: cancelling the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle; eliminating the Department of Energy’s Grants to States for Energy Conservation and Weatherization; and eliminating Intercity Rail Subsidies.

Not as meaty, but also worth considering, is President Obama’s own list of recommendations that the White House released in February along with his fiscal year 2012 budget.  Fiscal Year 2012 Terminations, Reductions, and Savings outlines $33 billion in potential spending cuts.  While there are some good recommendations to cut spending, the total amounts to less than one percent of the $3.7 trillion budget and it fails to address entitlement spending, which is projected to be 64 percent of the budget. However, this is at least a more serious proposal to our out-of-control deficit than cutting agency swag.

A more effective approach came just about a year ago from the National Commission on Fiscal Reform and Integrity, a deficit reduction effort led by former White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles and former Republican Senate Whip Alan Simpson (R-Wy.). The Commission released a report on potential spending cuts that would eclipse $2 trillion from 2012 to 2020.  Recommendations include: selling excess federal real property; repealing The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act which was created in Obamacare; and reducing net spending on mandatory agriculture programs.

While it may look good that the White House is trying to cut a few billion dollars, it is disingenuous for the Obama administration to brag that it is serious about cutting spending when they pushed an $800 billion stimulus program and a multi-trillion dollar healthcare plan that will have far more impact on the debt and deficit than a few symbolic spending cuts.  Taxpayers want (and deserve) real spending cuts and not just window dressing.

With the failure of the Super Committee and a national debt exceeding $15 trillion, it is time that our government got serious about cutting spending and fixing our current economic dilemma. Not issuing the latest iPhone to federal employees isn’t going to reduce our debt or get Americans back to work.