Little-Acorn
Gold Member
- Jun 20, 2006
- 10,025
- 2,410
One thing an ever-bigger government needs to be ever-bigger, is money. Lots of it. And cutting off the increasing money is a vital part of bringing the out-of-control government under control at last.
"Baseline budgeting" is what Congress uses to provide ever-increasing amounts of money. One of the things it says is that every year, the budget must get 10% bigger (or whatever the number is, it's somewhere around there). No one has to vote on that increase, it's automatically - and quietly - provided every year.
And it gives politicians room to pretend they are "cutting" the budget sometimes, when in fact they aren't. Some politician announces that he is going to "Cut the budget" by, say, 3 percent this year. But what happens? Instead of the 10% that had automatically been scheduled, it grows by "only" 7 percent this year.
So if you were wondering why the budget gets bigger every year without fail, even with all this "cutting" going on, now you know.
One of the biggest things I hope the Trump administration does in the next four years... or maybe in the next four days... is that Baseline Budgeting will be repealed. The budgeting method that every large company in the country uses, will be substituted - every department laying out what it plans to spend next year, and any increases (real ones this time) must be justified in writing.
It would put a yuuuge dent in our constantly-expanding government, which would be a major accomplishment.
I know, politicians would fight like badgers to find a way around this change, and Trump's people would have to hunt them down and corner them again and again. But that would be a good use of their time, until the politicians eventually take the hint.
Trump has said that he wants government to do less. If they do less, they will need less money. So going back to real, honest budgeting shouldn't hurt them a bit.
Has Trump ever mentioned Baseline Budgeting in any of his speeches, tweets etc.? If not, will he soon?
"Baseline budgeting" is what Congress uses to provide ever-increasing amounts of money. One of the things it says is that every year, the budget must get 10% bigger (or whatever the number is, it's somewhere around there). No one has to vote on that increase, it's automatically - and quietly - provided every year.
And it gives politicians room to pretend they are "cutting" the budget sometimes, when in fact they aren't. Some politician announces that he is going to "Cut the budget" by, say, 3 percent this year. But what happens? Instead of the 10% that had automatically been scheduled, it grows by "only" 7 percent this year.
So if you were wondering why the budget gets bigger every year without fail, even with all this "cutting" going on, now you know.
One of the biggest things I hope the Trump administration does in the next four years... or maybe in the next four days... is that Baseline Budgeting will be repealed. The budgeting method that every large company in the country uses, will be substituted - every department laying out what it plans to spend next year, and any increases (real ones this time) must be justified in writing.
It would put a yuuuge dent in our constantly-expanding government, which would be a major accomplishment.
I know, politicians would fight like badgers to find a way around this change, and Trump's people would have to hunt them down and corner them again and again. But that would be a good use of their time, until the politicians eventually take the hint.
Trump has said that he wants government to do less. If they do less, they will need less money. So going back to real, honest budgeting shouldn't hurt them a bit.
Has Trump ever mentioned Baseline Budgeting in any of his speeches, tweets etc.? If not, will he soon?
