Alan Grayson on the Sequester:

[cali]

<snip>

Back to "The Sequester," the 12 percent budget cut for the military (leaving aside soldier pay and benefits), and the 9 percent budget cut for other federal programs (leaving aside Medicare and Social Security). Opponents of the sequester are focusing on the military cuts. Their theory seems to be that the American public has been signing blank checks made out to "DoD" for so long that there is no way that we'll stop now. Or maybe they think that we will subliminally translate the words "defense cuts" into "some crazy Arab is going to blow me up" without anyone actually having to say that, much less make the case for it.

I have a nodding acquaintance with polling, so I understand that foreign aid might be the least popular federal program right now, second only to black helicopters. But our immunization program alone saves three million lives each year. Our emergency food assistance program fed more than 66 million starving people last year. Possibly including the lady who sold me that pen.

And the total cost of all that food was equal to one-sixteenth of a new aircraft carrier. In fact, for the cost of one aircraft carrier, we could feed every hungry person in the entire world.

So let's see. A nine percent cut in the foreign aid budget means that six million more people go hungry. And American taxpayers save 44 cents a month. Not even enough to buy one hamburger.

<snip>

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-alan-grayson/sequester-foreign-aid_b_2712296.html

[TheMadMonk]

1. So take it all out of Israel's share. /nt

[cali]

3. sorry, that's still a dinky amount of $$$

so even though I endorse cutting that out, it wouldn't be enough.

[TheMadMonk]

6. I meant the military aid. /nt

[cali]

8. So did I.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Seems so obvious. Cut the aircraft carrier and another 12% of the military's budget!

[Scalded Nun]

4. Totally agree on those cuts

'Bloated' does not even come close to describing the DoD budget. The biggest problem I have with that is that so much of the money does nothing except fatten the DIC/MIC. We do not wind up with a better security posture. We just wind up with richer contractors. I'd like to see some actual surgery done on the DoD budget with true needs the driver.

I also like to see some of that savings used to take care of folks here. Nothing wrong with feeding the hungry of the world, but not while we are taking food out of the mouths of our own children.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

9. +1

[ProgressiveProfessor]

5. Since the defense job cuts did not sell well, they are now talking about the social impacts

[ProSense]

7. "A nine percent cut in the foreign aid budget means that six million more people go hungry."

Republicans have been pushing cuts to the foreign aid budget.

Also posted here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251288230