Tea Party favorite Rand Paul (R-KY) competes with Michelle Bachmann for the most extreme budget-cutting proposal, but barely outdoes her with his suggestion to cut $500 billion from the 2011 fiscal year--a calendar that has only 8 months left in it.
How would he do it? By wiping out the Department of Energy and the Department of Education.
- legislative branch -- 23%
- federal courts -- 32%
- Agriculture Department -- 30%
- Commerce Department -- 54%
- Health and Human Services -- 26%
- Homeland Security -- 43%
- Interior Department -- 78%
The legislation also lists programs for elimination. How about ... the Affordable Housing Program, the Commission on Fine Arts, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the State Justice Institute.
The general reaction is one of astonishment so far, including this one from Brookings' Isabel Sawhill.
"Oh my god. That's just crazy," said Isabel Sawhill, an economist who studies fiscal issues at the Brookings Institution. "Really that is wacko."
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