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The week's question
In December 2024, in the thread "Re: BRK: Why Not XOM?", BreckHutHigh asked the members: "What about the long road trips with kids?" This week it is put to everyone again. The button below opens the small thread re-asking it - read what others have said so far, then give your own answer as an ordinary reply.
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Author: onepoorguy 🐝  😊 😞
Number: of 84349 
Subject: Re: And the grift goes on
Date: 03/10/25 2:50 PM
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Next up: gutting the Big Three social programs the rubes depend on in order to fund ever more tax cuts for the 1 percent.

Agreed. This pretty much has to happen if they aren't going to raise taxes. The Big Three (as you say) comprise something like 60% of the budget (if memory serves). You can't reduce the deficit in any meaningful way without either raising taxes, or cutting the Big Three. Or, I guess, they could increase the deficit and debt, and call it a day.

Meanwhile, no one is looking at the low-hanging fruit. Kill the fossil fuel subsidies. The petro companies are recording record (or near-record) profits, and the American taxpayer is pumping billions at them ($662B in 2020, including implicit subsidies). The Senate budget office reports around $20B direct subsidies. We could lop that off right now, and save more than DOGE has with all their cuts.

And then there's pharma. We subsidize their med research (which is fine...basic research is expensive), and then they don't cut us a deal for the drugs that result?? I don't think so. How many more billions could we save if we stopped that? If you want us to fund your research, you're going to give us a serious discount on any meds that result.

And that's just two off the top of my head.
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This community has written 84,309 posts about US Policy. The article-length ones it recommended most:
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