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Reader lists ways to cut federal spending
Letter to the editor
lettereditor

Editor, Tick-tock. Tick-tock. In this amount of time, the government spends $242,134, of which $104,324 is borrowed. The federal government is bloated and spending the taxpayers’ money into oblivion. About 14.1 percent of our population works for the federal government in departments that are not authorized by the Constitution.

The 10th Amendment states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Yet the federal government has taken much more power than allowed. Therefore, we should eliminate the following departments, as they are not authorized by Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution.

Let’s begin with the Department of Education. Education is the right of the states. The federal government has failed. The Department of Labor should go, as it is not much more than the mouthpiece for corrupt unions. Why do we need the Small Business Administration when we have banks to lend money? The Department of Energy is a waste of $10 billion. Its purpose was to make us energy independent, but we still buy oil from countries that hate us, and the agency’s renewable-energy program is a failure.

Another $8.6 billion is wasted by the Environmental Protection Agency, which hurts many businesses with its excessive and restrictive regulations under the guise of helping the environment. Federal law prohibits the EPA from using money for advocacy without approval from Congress, yet they are using tax dollars in an anti-farmer campaign in Washington state.

The Bureau of Land Management must certainly go, as it controls millions of acres of land that rightfully belong to the states. Just look at what they are doing to the ranchers out west. It is a part of the Department of the Interior, another useless agency.

The Department of Health and Human Services can be easily taken over by the states, as most states have similar agencies. By the way, HHS is trying to pay Obamacare insurance companies billions of dollars to bail them out from this failed health program. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has 16 offices that can be handled by the states. They have mismanaged Ginnie Mae (Government National Mortgage Association) and the Federal Housing Administration.

Of course, the Department of Veterans Affairs needs to go, as it is not taking care of our veterans. A program similar to Medicare should be established where our veterans can go to civilian doctors and hospitals, who can better care for our veterans. This government department is a disgrace.

There are another 22 government entities that should also go, but I have to stop somewhere. Just remember — tick-tock, tick-tock.

Len Calderone

Midway

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