In this thread we cut/reduce government...

Put out your ideas for cutting/reducing government here.

I've got a few.

- Get rid of the DEA
- Lower corp tax rate to, say, 5% eliminate all loopholes, along with this treat all personal income the same. No separate rate for capital gains, dividends, etc. That way we have 1 set of rules instead of 3. Simple, see?
- Partially privatize social security. I see no reason it should be 100% government, let people put a portion of it into safe investments if they choose and are far away from retirement.
- Reduce funding for ICE and border patrol, since drugs would be legal they aren't needed as much.
- Reduce any federal funding for state/local prisons. If a particular state wants particularly harsh sentencing laws they need to pay for it themselves.
- Close or reduce the size of US military bases on foreign soil.
- Any federally provided health insurance premiums should index to inflation. An employee shouldn't be paying the same amount they paid in 1990.
- No more wars in foreign countries for no reason. It's not our business. 10+ years in Afghanistan means they're making it more complicated than it needs to be.

I had an idea but it is kinda crap so I am just leaving it at that

Here's one:

No law restricting marriage based on the gender of the participants. Small government 1 - big government conservatives 0.

Get rid of the NCLB and leave all education decision making to the schools/districts, with the exception of enforcing civil rights laws.

Eliminate subsidies for all publicly traded companies.

Chuck the EPA too. And build more walls. About 30 feet long and 10 feet high. Build these walls in each larger city. And hire squads of expert marksmen assigned to each wall. And judges with guts to do their jobs. Mo more life sentences for serial killers, terrorists etc. Just a one way walk to the wall.

Sounds like the plot to Escape from LA.

Don't know about that except LA is in the fruit and nut state.

Sounds like more big government not less.

From wikipedia -

On August 23, 2000, an earthquake strikes Los Angeles, causing the San Fernando Valley to flood and turning a portion of California into an island from Malibu to Anaheim. An American presidential candidate who is also an outspoken Christian theocrat has been saying that L.A. is a "city of sin", and that, "Like the mighty hand of God, waters will rise up and separate this sinful, sinful city, from our country". The candidate is shortly elected President and, by an amendment to the Constitution, his term is permanent. The President declares that anyone not conforming to the new "Moral America" laws he creates (banning such things as tobacco, alcoholic beverages, red meat, firearms, profanity, non-Christian religions, atheism and non-marital sex) will be deported to Los Angeles Island or choose death by electrocution as an alternative. A containment wall is built around the island with armed guards and watchtowers posted, and those sent to the island are exiled permanently.

In 2013, Cuervo Jones, a Shining Path Peruvian Revolutionary, seduces the President's daughter, Utopia, via a holographic system and brainwashes her into stealing her father's remote control to the "Sword of Damocles" super weapon—a series of satellites capable of destroying electronics anywhere on the planet, driving target areas back into the Dark Ages. The President intends to use the system to destroy America's enemies' "ability to function", and eventually dominate the world. While traveling aboard Air Force Three, Utopia leaves the plane in an escape pod and lands on L.A. Island to join Cuervo. With the satellites under his control, Cuervo promises to take back America with the assistance of an allied invasion force of third world nations that are standing by to attack. He claims that if the President tries to stop him, he will "pull the plug" on the country and black out the capital. In addition, Cuervo also knows the secret world code that can knock out power for the entire planet.

Snake Plissken is captured for another series of crimes and is scheduled to be exiled to the island. Upon his arrival for deportation, he meets the President and is offered the mission of retrieving the weapon in exchange for a full pardon for all the crimes Snake has ever committed if he is successful. The President indicates he does not care if Utopia is returned or not, declaring her a traitor. To ensure his compliance, Snake is infected with the man-made Plutoxin 7 virus that will kill him within ten hours. If he completes the mission, Snake will be cured of the virus. After acquiring all of the necessary equipment and making his way across the island via personal submarine, Snake meets "Map to the Stars" Eddie, a swindler who sells interactive tours of L.A. Shortly after a failed attempt at retrieving the device from Cuervo, Snake meets up with his old friend Carjack Malone, who has since become the transsexual gang leader Hershe Las Palmas. Together with Hershe and her gang, Snake stage a final assault on Cuervo's forces.

Snake defeats Cuervo at his staging area of The Happy Kingdom By The Sea and takes the remote control. He leaves the island with Utopia and some other Cuervo resistors in a helicopter. Eddie mortally wounds Cuervo, but the revolutionary fires a rocket launcher at the helicopter. Seeing the incoming rocket, Eddie leaps off the aircraft, landing on an awning. The rocket hits the helicopter and kills those in the back of the chopper; Snake and Utopia bail out before it crashes. When the President's men reach the crash site, Snake intentionally hands off the wrong remote to the President while Utopia is taken to the electric chair despite her pleas for forgiveness. The Plutoxin 7 virus is revealed to be nothing more than a fast, hard-hitting case of the flu. The President tries using the satellites to stop a Cuban invasion force threatening Florida. Activating the remote, the President hears only Eddie's "Map to the Stars" intro over "I Love L.A.". The President orders Snake's execution, but Snake tricks him and his troops by using a holographic illusion of himself. Seeing that one country having such power amounts to nothing, Snake activates the real control device and enters the world code, against the President's pleas to stop. Within seconds, all means of technology worldwide are shut down by the satellites; as a result, Utopia is saved as her execution is immediately halted. On another side of the forest, Snake discovers a pack of American Spirit cigarettes on the ground and lights one up. He stares at the lit match and the viewer before extinguishing it and saying, "Welcome to the human race."

That sounds like a massive increase in government spending.. I would have never taken you for a liberal hoppy.

Not really. Included under the terrorist heading would be about 1 out of 3 lawyers. Most politicians are lawyers. With term limits and no perks on retirement, we'd be ahead.

From the film...sounds like you'd approve of this President?

The President declares that anyone not conforming to the new "Moral America" laws he creates (banning such things as tobacco, alcoholic beverages, red meat, firearms, profanity, non-Christian religions, atheism and non-marital sex) will be deported to Los Angeles Island or choose death by electrocution as an alternative. A containment wall is built around the island with armed guards and watchtowers posted, and those sent to the island are exiled permanently.

Legalize marijuana...

It would reduce government agencies (DEA, FBI, ATF, ICE and some others); reduce laws and regulations.

It would reduce government spending at the federal, state and local level.

It would undercut much of organized crime, dilute the "need" for drug wars.

With incentives, hemp based industry might start for meds, smoking (think of the Super Bowl commercials!!), things like plant based polymers, clothing, etc.

Then tax the marijuana.

Result...reduced government agencies, reduced government spending, increased government revenue and make some jobs.

I'll have to see that movie.