Don't be misled here. When the US government announces a "cut" it is not a reduction in the previous years budget, it is a reduction in the planned growth of that budget. Instead of spending $15m on a budget item they are going to spend $13.5m, equating a 10% "cut" even though the previous years budget was $12m.... There was an uproar over the cuts to the "school lunch program" in 1994 as people were thinking the budget was actually going to be less than in 1993, when the actual budget increase was cut 3%.
Confused yet?
Our government budget is actually set-up so that it is nearly impossible for any service or program to get less money than the previous year's budget. I call it the "never-ending-even-though-it-should-of-years-ago" program and it was part of the US government employee union's negotiated contract in 1987, basically assuring the members that no matter how outdated, unused, useless, or wasteful the position they hold as a federal employee their position cannot be eliminated. Why we have a union for federal employees is beyond me...
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03-29-2003, 01:10 AM
