Now that he's been elected, how do we ensure that Trump and the GOP make the cuts we want them to make? His last term was basically spending as normal and he/Congress/government added to the deficit like the others before him.

Do you believe that he'll actually make the cuts?

No I don't. He claims we will make the difference up in tariffs, but people say tariffs are just a negotiating tactic. One of those things offsets the other. I'm betting it's deficit spending.

Congress has the checkbook. Ask them.

I'm not sure he is going to be able to keep this promise. The economy is propped up on government spending right now. If he cuts spending we are heading for a recession. There is an argument to be made that we are already in one.

The only way I see it is if Elon really comes in and makes the government much more efficient so we get the same output with much less cost. I don't think Trump has any plan to actually try and curtail spending by making budget cuts, but we will see. Hopefully I am wrong.

It's not propped up by government spending.

Government spending has always been a net economic drain. Because it's money that gets lost and skimmed from while not producing anything of tangible value.

Ags4DaWin said:

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Fire 30% of the government within 90 days.

That drops the federal budget a ton.

Immediately stop all foreign aid until the budget is balanced.

That also drops the budget a ton.

Stop all aid to illegals and deport them.

That drops the budget a ton.

Reinstitute alot of the requirements and time limits on welfare.

That drops the budget a ton.

Audit the defense budget and any money's that cannot be accounted for get removed from next year's budget.

That drops the budget a ton.

From there adjust taxes as necessary.

---

Create a recession right out the gate. Genius.

My hope is that he dramatically cuts the size of government and eliminates a ton of government waste. If so, that will cut the budget. Elon said he think he could eliminate two trillion from the budget...if so, that makes a big difference.

Prime0882 said:

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Ags4DaWin said:

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Fire 30% of the government within 90 days.

That drops the federal budget a ton.

Immediately stop all foreign aid until the budget is balanced.

That also drops the budget a ton.

Stop all aid to illegals and deport them.

That drops the budget a ton.

Reinstitute alot of the requirements and time limits on welfare.

That drops the budget a ton.

Audit the defense budget and any money's that cannot be accounted for get removed from next year's budget.

That drops the budget a ton.

From there adjust taxes as necessary.

---

Create a recession right out the gate. Genius.

---

We are already in a recession.

This fixes the deficit spending that is about to catastrophically tank our economy.

But if you could explain to me how:

Useless government workers having to be productive in the private sector, removing erroneous spending from the defense budget, and sending hundred of billions of dollars to coubtries that hate us will make the economy worse I am open to learning.

Definitely Not A Cop said:

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No I don't. He claims we will make the difference up in tariffs, but people say tariffs are just a negotiating tactic. One of those things offsets the other. I'm betting it's deficit spending.

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I'm soooo tired of this "make up the difference" point. The US govt does NOT have a "revenue" problem. 95%+ of what the government spends on is complete waste. We need to see massive cuts across the board. Only then can we discuss what tax revenue is necessary.

ETA: if we had the small limited government that we originally had, Trumps plan to eliminate income tax and fund govt with tariffs could actually work.

He is not dictator and can only do so much.

US revenue is $4.92T and we spend $6.75T. Deficit of $1.83T

We spend $4.8T just on SS, Medicare Medicaid, Defense, and Interest.

Where do you think we can make cuts to balance the budget?

Ag_of_08 said:

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You could fire 50% of the government and cur every dollar in foreign aid... it wouldn't balance the budget.

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Be a great freaking start!

The government is bloated. Time to do some cutting

Ags4DaWin said:

---

Fire 30% of the government within 90 days.

That drops the federal budget a ton.

Immediately stop all foreign aid until the budget is balanced.

That also drops the budget a ton.

Stop all aid to illegals and deport them.

That drops the budget a ton.

Reinstitute alot of the requirements and time limits on welfare.

That drops the budget a ton.

Audit the defense budget and any money's that cannot be accounted for get removed from next year's budget.

That drops the budget a ton.

From there adjust taxes as necessary.

---

Drop in a bucket..

Didn't say it wasn't/isn't, but i think some of you don't really understand that the magic wand waving Trump has been talking about is not going to make things right overnight.

Ags4DaWin said:

---

Prime0882 said:

---

Ags4DaWin said:

---

Fire 30% of the government within 90 days.

That drops the federal budget a ton.

Immediately stop all foreign aid until the budget is balanced.

That also drops the budget a ton.

Stop all aid to illegals and deport them.

That drops the budget a ton.

Reinstitute alot of the requirements and time limits on welfare.

That drops the budget a ton.

Audit the defense budget and any money's that cannot be accounted for get removed from next year's budget.

That drops the budget a ton.

From there adjust taxes as necessary.

---

Create a recession right out the gate. Genius.

---

We are already in a recession.

This fixes the deficit spending that is about to catastrophically tank our economy.

But if you could explain to me how:

Useless government workers having to be productive in the private sector, removing erroneous spending from the defense budget, and sending hundred of billions of dollars to coubtries that hate us will make the economy worse I am open to learning.

---

What jobs are these nearly 750k workers immediately going to? What about all the logistics of possibly having to relocate, etc. that may just have them deciding for unemployment if the jobs are not in a commutable distance.

Trump added trillions to the deficit and his ideas have never been about fiscal responsibility. That's a thing of the past for either party.

Ags4DaWin said:

---

Prime0882 said:

---

Ags4DaWin said:

---

Fire 30% of the government within 90 days.

That drops the federal budget a ton.

Immediately stop all foreign aid until the budget is balanced.

That also drops the budget a ton.

Stop all aid to illegals and deport them.

That drops the budget a ton.

Reinstitute alot of the requirements and time limits on welfare.

That drops the budget a ton.

Audit the defense budget and any money's that cannot be accounted for get removed from next year's budget.

That drops the budget a ton.

From there adjust taxes as necessary.

---

Create a recession right out the gate. Genius.

---

We are already in a recession.

This fixes the deficit spending that is about to catastrophically tank our economy.

But if you could explain to me how:

Useless government workers having to be productive in the private sector, removing erroneous spending from the defense budget, and sending hundred of billions of dollars to coubtries that hate us will make the economy worse I am open to learning.

---

Erroneous defense budget spending needs to be curtailed via reducing spending on random platforms that may not be needed any longer (Abrams sitting out in motor pools, etc) that the military doesn't truly need but has been continuined to be churned out because they're in some Congressman's district and create a couple thousand jobs. I don't see Trump doing that either.

Gaeilge said:

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AggieDruggist89 said:

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Ags4DaWin said:

---

Fire 30% of the government within 90 days.

That drops the federal budget a ton.

Immediately stop all foreign aid until the budget is balanced.

That also drops the budget a ton.

Stop all aid to illegals and deport them.

That drops the budget a ton.

Reinstitute alot of the requirements and time limits on welfare.

That drops the budget a ton.

Audit the defense budget and any money's that cannot be accounted for get removed from next year's budget.

That drops the budget a ton.

From there adjust taxes as necessary.

---

Drop in a bucket..

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This type of rhetoric is the problem; Drop in the bucket or not, it is still unneccessary spending that is occurring while our country is in an economic crisis.

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No.

Focus should be on initiatives that will actually make a major impact to the deficit and not some piddly initiatives with little return. Work smarter not harder.

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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Now that he's been elected, how do we ensure that Trump and the GOP make the cuts we want them to make? His last term was basically spending as normal and he/Congress/government added to the deficit like the others before him.

Do you believe that he'll actually make the cuts?

---

He won't cut everything that we want him to cut, but putting Elon "I fired 80% of Twitter and it still (usually) works" Musk in charge of efficiency and optimization is probably as good as we're gonna get.

I want him to do what the Argentina President did. Just cut all the programs that are a waste. I think they had a surplus in his first year

JW said:

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He is not dictator and can only do so much.

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Weak excuse. He has the bully pulpit and veto power. He can veto every spending bill that comes across his desk and tell the American people why he did it.

Do you think he can get Congress to pass the 12 appropriation bills separately instead of the giant omnibus that has been the norm?

Prime0882 said:

---

Ags4DaWin said:

---

Fire 30% of the government within 90 days.

That drops the federal budget a ton.

Immediately stop all foreign aid until the budget is balanced.

That also drops the budget a ton.

Stop all aid to illegals and deport them.

That drops the budget a ton.

Reinstitute alot of the requirements and time limits on welfare.

That drops the budget a ton.

Audit the defense budget and any money's that cannot be accounted for get removed from next year's budget.

That drops the budget a ton.

From there adjust taxes as necessary.

---

Create a recession right out the gate. Genius.

---

Hardly...

Prime0882 said:

---

Ags4DaWin said:

---

Prime0882 said:

---

Ags4DaWin said:

---

Fire 30% of the government within 90 days.

That drops the federal budget a ton.

Immediately stop all foreign aid until the budget is balanced.

That also drops the budget a ton.

Stop all aid to illegals and deport them.

That drops the budget a ton.

Reinstitute alot of the requirements and time limits on welfare.

That drops the budget a ton.

Audit the defense budget and any money's that cannot be accounted for get removed from next year's budget.

That drops the budget a ton.

From there adjust taxes as necessary.

---

Create a recession right out the gate. Genius.

---

We are already in a recession.

This fixes the deficit spending that is about to catastrophically tank our economy.

But if you could explain to me how:

Useless government workers having to be productive in the private sector, removing erroneous spending from the defense budget, and sending hundred of billions of dollars to coubtries that hate us will make the economy worse I am open to learning.

---

What jobs are these nearly 750k workers immediately going to? What about all the logistics of possibly having to relocate, etc. that may just have them deciding for unemployment if the jobs are not in a commutable distance.

Trump added trillions to the deficit and his ideas have never been about fiscal responsibility. That's a thing of the past for either party.

---

Let's not forget about the billions (hundreds of billions?) of dollars this would put back into the private sector. You know, the people and organizations that actually generate productive jobs? Justifying the existence of unproductive workers on the basis that there might be a short-term transition pain is extremely shortsighted. When you identify wasteful spending or a sunk cost, it's best to make the cuts immediately. Waiting only prolongs and increases the pain.

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

---

Now that he's been elected, how do we ensure that Trump and the GOP make the cuts we want them to make? His last term was basically spending as normal and he/Congress/government added to the deficit like the others before him.

Do you believe that he'll actually make the cuts?

---

It remains to be seen, but with the mandate he got from the American public and Elon heading up a task force to root out and eliminate government waste and fraud, I have high hopes.

Helicopter Ben said:

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Prime0882 said:

---

Ags4DaWin said:

---

Prime0882 said:

---

Ags4DaWin said:

---

Fire 30% of the government within 90 days.

That drops the federal budget a ton.

Immediately stop all foreign aid until the budget is balanced.

That also drops the budget a ton.

Stop all aid to illegals and deport them.

That drops the budget a ton.

Reinstitute alot of the requirements and time limits on welfare.

That drops the budget a ton.

Audit the defense budget and any money's that cannot be accounted for get removed from next year's budget.

That drops the budget a ton.

From there adjust taxes as necessary.

---

Create a recession right out the gate. Genius.

---

We are already in a recession.

This fixes the deficit spending that is about to catastrophically tank our economy.

But if you could explain to me how:

Useless government workers having to be productive in the private sector, removing erroneous spending from the defense budget, and sending hundred of billions of dollars to coubtries that hate us will make the economy worse I am open to learning.

---

What jobs are these nearly 750k workers immediately going to? What about all the logistics of possibly having to relocate, etc. that may just have them deciding for unemployment if the jobs are not in a commutable distance.

Trump added trillions to the deficit and his ideas have never been about fiscal responsibility. That's a thing of the past for either party.

---

Let's not forget about the billions (hundreds of billions?) of dollars this would put back into the private sector. You know, the people and organizations that actually generate productive jobs? Justifying the existence of unproductive workers on the basis that there might be a short-term transition pain is extremely shortsighted. When you identify wasteful spending or a sunk cost, it's best to make the cuts immediately. Waiting only prolongs and increases the pain.

---

Cool. How you going to do it without tanking the economy and getting voters who voted due to the economy to not turn their backs by 2026 and 2028.

AggieDruggist89 said:

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US revenue is $4.92T and we spend $6.75T. Deficit of $1.83T

We spend $4.8T just on SS, Medicare Medicaid, Defense, and Interest.

Where do you think we can make cuts to balance the budget?

---

Unless we attack entitlements, we will not balance the budget as these issues will get worse due to upcoming demographic issues. The problem is if you attack them as a politician, good luck winning reelection because the vast majority of Americans support these programs.

The only hope would be to do it via bipartisan bills so everyone takes the pain at the ballot box but unfortunately, neither party will do it.

I would love to see a balanced budget and major cuts across the board but there isn't the political will/guts in DC to do it.

Prime0882 said:

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Cool. How you going to do it without tanking the economy and getting voters who voted due to the economy to not turn their backs by 2026 and 2028.

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I don't believe it would tank the economy. Well maybe in the very short term, but I also think it would come roaring back and exceed the status quo much faster than even I would guess. The govt is gobbling up and crowding out an enormous amount of capital. That comes in the form of taxation, regulation, and spending on things that private enterprise could handle. And remember, only govt can waste money with zero ROI and continue to exist as an org. Free up the markets and let's see what happens. Here is a relevant quote from The Road To Serfdom:

"A program whose basic thesis, is not that the system of free enterprise for profit has failed in this generation, but that it has not yet been tried." ~FDR

Firing government workers and getting them in the private sector will not tank the economy.

Based on your post ur big issue is the political backlash such an action would cause. That is not the same as being worried about the economy. Once again. The government doesn't actually produce anything.

That can be managed by telling everyone from the get go that everyone is going to tighten their belts but that everyone is going to also start taking home more money because their taxes are going down.

Spend 3 months gutting regulation and lowering taxes to spur the economy. Before you do the firings.

Then have voluntary retirement options where government workers of retirement age can retire for a bonus.

Then start with the layoffs and government restructuring
Pay the government workers a 3-6 months severance based on years of service just like any corporation.

There will be soooo little impact on the economy noone will notice except the swamp creatures in DC.

And **** them.

Helicopter Ben said:

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Prime0882 said:

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Cool. How you going to do it without tanking the economy and getting voters who voted due to the economy to not turn their backs by 2026 and 2028.

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I don't believe it would tank the economy. Well maybe in the very short term, but I also think it would come roaring back and exceed the status quo much faster than even I would guess. The govt is gobbling up and crowding out an enormous amount of capital. That comes in the form of taxation, regulation, and spending on things that private enterprise could handle. And remember, only govt can waste money with zero ROI and continue to exist as an org. Free up the markets and let's see what happens. Here is a relevant quote from The Road To Serfdom:

"A program whose basic thesis, is not that the system of free enterprise for profit has failed in this generation, but that it has not yet been tried." ~FDR

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Can you do it in two years without people protest voting for the Democrats and ruining Republicans holding the Senate and House? I doubt it.

If you cut off funding to illegal immigrants watch the self deportation begin.