"The Party That Gets It"

In this morning’s Politico, Republican Minority Whip Eric Cantor is trying to rebrand the Republican Party as the party that gets it. Whew. Well, I am glad to see they finally get it, because that whole family values just was not working for them, as any American could have told them, at least those not blinded by other shiny objects.

I applaud Mr. Cantor’s desire to reduce government spending and I have a few suggestions for him on where he can have the most impact. To begin, the Defense Department budget is just a tad bloated, and that is in the areas that we, the tax payers, know about. He might want to look at some of the black budgets with a bigger cleaver. What? Oh…umm…OK, well, how about Homeland Security? No? State? The reality, as most of us are aware, is that only those programs that are socially responsible will be cut, and cut deeply. EPA, Interior, Education and even Energy and Health and Human Services can expect to see their funds reduced while Defense, DHS and State will continue at the same or higher levels. I do want to give a polite golf clap to his desire to target Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac. Both of them need an overhaul, no doubt, but not to the same degree as just the basic tenants of the Defense procurement process.

The United States, at the Federal level, is not interested in the health and welfare of its citizens, unless, by health and welfare, you mean knowing all there is to know about them and preventing them from accessing their government. Are there increases in efficiencies that can be gained? Certainly, but that will require an overhaul that is beyond the political will of the current government, including the bureaucracy which has a might tighter stranglehold on business as usual than even the politicians can control.