So here is a little list of "cuts" and "keeps" in the proposed Congressional budget cuts of interest to those interested in keeping their reality/cynicism mechanisms in tune:
WASTEFUL SPENDING INTACT:
$19 billion in subsidies to the oil and gas industry.
PUBLIC PRIORITIES SLASHED:
A 44% cut in funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to police the big banks, mortgage and credit card companies and guard against deceptive practices.
WASTEFUL SPENDING INTACT:
$500 billion in tax loopholes that permit companies to ship their profits overseas and hide them in offshore tax havens—including 83 of the top 100 publicly traded companies.
PUBLIC PRIORITIES SLASHED:
Funding eliminated for the Consumer Product Safety Commission to track and inform the public about dangerous products.
WASTEFUL SPENDING INTACT:
$185 billion in orders for obsolete military equipment.
PUBLIC PRIORITIES SLASHED:
$88.4 million less for food safety inspectors who ensure that the nation’s egg, poultry, and meat supply is safe and wholesome.
WASTEFUL SPENDING INTACT:
$1 billion for trade associations for multinational corporations to market their products overseas.
PUBLIC PRIORITIES SLASHED:
Pell Grants to increase access to college for 9.4 million Americans cut by $5.7 billion.
WASTEFUL SPENDING INTACT:
$34 billion in Homeland Security contracts that have been plagued with waste, abuse and mismanagement going back to 2001.
PUBLIC PRIORITIES SLASHED:
All funding for high-speed rail eliminated.
