If YOU decided where money was distributed in the United States budget, where would you put it?

21 comments

1. Into my bank account

2. We could take half the military budget and still spend more than any other country on “defense”. Redistribute those monies to healthcare, education and housing.

3. Dismantle Homeland Security, and use that money ($97 billion) for roads.

   That’s it really.

   I’ve looked at the US Gov’t budget; there’s not a lot of reasonable shuffling to be done that doesn’t hurt an ROI somewhere else.

   But I’ll fucked if I know what DHS even fucking does that it doesn’t done by other agencies.

4. I feel like lots of money goes where it should.

   I think investing more in education, post public schools and college, would position out country better.

   Also more studies are showing how greatly strong welfare programs reduce major crime.

   Good access to inexpensive abortion also likely greatly reduces crime.

   Also free universe health to help small business.

5. Social services and infrastructure.

6. It’s such a complex issue that I doubt any one person could have intelligent positions about the whole thing.

   I would definitely cut back the military, and close most of the international military bases, except for a few associated with nations that cannot defend themselves for various reasons, like Japan and Taiwan. Europe can and should defend itself, which is why NATO exists.

7. Education, infrastructure, intercity high speed rail, public health & welfare, and renewable/clean energy – top priority.

   Defense, justice & judicial reform, debt reduction, national parks, and agriculture – high priority.

   NASA, EPA, forign aid, public transit, Department of Labor, FTC, and FCC – medium priority.

   Diplomacy, government salaries, and corporate bailouts – low priority.

   Homeland security theater, and congressional salary raises – super low priority.

8. Definitely much more heavy investments into social services, public transport, public education, and public health.

   More investment into long term goals like longevity of our roads and reduction of pollution. Unfortunately most people can’t think past the next election cycle and don’t want to ruffle feathers on that stuff.

   Streamlining government systems and the way contracts are decided, bid, & paid for to reduce scope creep and unit costs.

9. The single most pressing concern that it would take real money to address is infrastructure. The power grid is held together with duct tape and spit. Rail and transportation generally are bad shape.

10. I’d put it all into ~~Gamestop~~ Bennigan’s gift cards

11. Healthcare, education, infrastructure. It’s amazing how much money we’d have if we didn’t spend it all on dropping bombs on people.

12. Just gut the entire fucking thing.

    Let the states collect much more money and assume more of the administration, restructure the entire tax code so that’s it’s not a couple thousand pages long, gut all SS, medicare, and medicaid so that they’re actually sustainable, long term programs, begin switching from direct payments to subsidized, pre-tax accounts (basically gov subsidized 401ks and HSAs).

    This country spent 6.2 trillion dollars in 2021, that’s $216,000 per *second*. Now I’m no expert, but that’s fucking absurd.

13. I’d put it far from bureaucrats and politicians

14. Triple the NASA budget and the budget for pure research in general.

    Cut it from defense and reform social security… now how you reform social security I have no idea but we have to try something.

15. We spend enough money on everything already. Due to political in fighting, corruption, and anti government views we get less for our money then every country on earth.

    All those comments about social services don’t realize our social service budget is absolutely huge already.

    We spend more money on healthcare and education per capita then even the Nordic countries yet we have garbage results.

16. I’d cut the military budget to 2% and spend the 300 billion dollars a year on infrastructure and expand Amtrak to high speed trains and a public rail system that would build from the state level out.

17. >I asked a question before regarding taxing on luxury products.

    Not related to this question, but we passed a luxury tax in the 90s. The results were not so good, and it was repealed after 2 years.

    Anyway, I would personally lessen infrastructure spending. Our subsidizing of roads has led to an increased carbon footprint compared to other first-world countries. It is also one of the reasons that we don’t have passenger rail- because we subsidize its competitor, the automobile, quite heavily.

    I would also abolish most welfare programs and simply just replace them with giving poor people straight-up money. Just cut the bullshit already.

    Also, I would abolish all agricultural subsidies. Use that money to pay off debt.

18. Education, infrastructure, and sustainable energy (with a considerable focus on nuclear)

19. I’m not sure I would do a massive revamp of much, but I would like to see more investment in government research. I mean, the US government’s research (along with some universities) got us GPS, the internet, microwaves, etc. Not many institutions have the funding power of congressional pursestrings, and I think we could use that to our advantage. Agencies like NASA and DARPA would see significant budget increases, as would the NIH. Would also significantly fund municipal broadband through matching funds or block grants.

    I would like to see the IRS get more money to ensure tax evasion is caught and punished. Also increase the auditing power of the GSA and of government contracts. More money for public transit, and maybe some for Amtrak, but given California’s high speed rail boondoggle I wouldn’t be pressed on making that investment into high speed rail nationally.

    Keep military funding the same for now. Increase funding slightly for the intelligence community – no, not for coups or spying on Americans, but so that we can keep an advantage over our adversaries like Russia and China.

20. In my wallet

21. Medicare desperately needs more funding and I don’t think there are any obvious easy fixes discussed the way there are discussions for Social Security.

    So do something like taking a couple of insulin manufacturing plants by eminent domain and have it operate as a for-profit government entity with a cap on prices comparable to other countries. (Yeah, easier said than done.)