GOP Priorities

The Republicans have begun to release their list of proposed cuts to reduce the dreaded deficit. Painfully clear where they think the sacrifices should be made. Krugman pulls out a few items:

WIC 1008 million
Food for Peace 544 million
NOAA 450 million
NASA 579 million
Energy efficiency and renewable energy 899
Science 1111 million
Nuclear nonproliferation 648 million
Federal buildings fund 1653 million
Homeland security administration 489 million
FEMA, various, around 1.2 billion
EPA clean water and drinking water about 1.8 billion
Community health centers 1.3 billion
Centers for disease control 900 million

So let's review. They want to stop feeding poor people, ignore climate disruption, kill science based study, remain dependent on carbon based fuel and hell with trying to conserve energy. Let those nukes proliferate, cut back on protecting national security, no more providing federal help in national disasters and who needs clean water anyway? Let's go back to the days when rivers caught fire. Oh, and forget about preventative health care for the rural poor or containing medical epidemics. Why it sounds just like the good old days of the Wild West. Who wouldn't want an outbreak of diptheria again?

Of course, they could maybe repeal tax breaks for billionaires but gosh, that would make the uber-wealthy so very nervous and we couldn't have that -- could we? I mean who would fund their smear campaigns if they had to pay a few thousand more to the public commons?

Also conspicously missing seems to be any cuts in Congressional compensation. I wonder how much we could save if we stopped paying for politicians' healthcare and cut their salaries by 10 percent or maybe a little more? And does anybody know what we're paying for their staff? Maybe they could make do with a few less aides. I mean if everything is on the table...