Reining in the Federal Deficit (and Inflation Too)
How serious are we about taming the debt, really?
With the federal deficit and inflation getting out of control, one way to reign them in is to restructure the federal government. And here’s how it can be done.
The following departments, agencies, boards, etc. can be eliminated:
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Corporation for National & Community Service
- Council on Environmental Quality
- Department of Education
- Department of Energy
- Export-Import Bank of the United States
- Federal Election Commission
- Federal Energy Regulation Commission
- Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac)
- Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae)
- Federal Reserve System
- Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission
- Internal Revenue Service (and replace the income tax with a national sales tax)
- Legal Services Corporation
- Medicaid and Chip Access Commission
- Medicare Advisory Payment Commission
- National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare
- National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
- Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation
- Postal Regulatory Commission
- Presidential Commission on Election Administration
- Small Business Administration
- Social Security Advisory Board
- Transportation Security Administration
- U.S. Bankruptcy Courts
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- U.S. Court of International Trade
- U.S. Tax Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
- U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
- Vietnam Education Foundation
- White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance
- White House Council for Community Solutions
- and the White House Initiative on Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders.
In addition, all offices of Czars can be eliminated.
The following agencies, boards, commissions, etc. can be privatized:
- African Development Foundation
- AMTRAK (National Railroad Passenger Corporation),
- Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation
- Broadcasting Board of Governors (International Broadcasting Bureau, a.k.a. Radio
& TV Marti) - Corporation for Public Broadcasting
- Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation
- Institute of Museum and Library Services
- Inter-American Foundation
- James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation
- Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission
- John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- Millennium Challenge Corporation
- Morris K. Udall & Stewart L. Udall Foundation (Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Endowment for the Arts
- National Endowment for the Humanities
- National Gallery of Art
- National Science Foundation
- Northwest Power and Conservation Council
- Overseas Private Investment Corporation
- Peace Corps
- Smithsonian Institution
- Social Security Administration
- Stennis Center for Public Service Leadership
- Tennessee Valley Authority
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- United States Postal Service (and its monopoly on mail delivery to be eliminated)
- United States Agency for International Development
- United States Trade and Development Agency
- and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
The District of Columbia can acquire the Commission on Fine Arts, National
Capital Planning Commission, and the Court Services & Offender Supervision
Agency for the District of Columbia, the City of San Francisco can acquire the
Presidio Trust, and the State of Alaska can acquire the Denali Commission.
Such restructuring would take a tremendous burden off the federal deficit. If only
it could be done.