Here's a cunning wheeze by the Republican party House whip Eric Cantor: You Cut, a website where you, the people, can tell the Republican party what areas of the US federal budget should be cut. Great idea? Well, maybe not.
You Cut doesn't offer voters much choice about what to cut – just five options are on offer, including a chance to give the thumbs down to the massive "HUD Programme for Doctoral Dissertations", which You Cut says would save ... one million dollars.
Indeed it's not even $1m up front either, as You Cut explains:
Recently, taxpayers have financed research on media strategies for housing policy and the use of eminent domain for urban redevelopment. Why should families who are struggling to pay for their children's college also being asked to fund stipends from the government for those who want to write their dissertation on certain government-preferred policies? At approximately $200,000 in grants per year, terminating this program would save $1 million over five years.
In fact, even if all the You Cut budget reductions were made, the total would come to – according to the Cato Institute – a whopping 0.017% from the $3.7tn US federal government's budget. That's not a cut, it's a pin prick.
No wonder You Cut has gone down badly even with Republicans and those, such as cato, who would be sympathetic to the idea of slashing budgets. Writes Chris Edwards of Cato: "But thus far with You Cut, we have the Empire State Building engulfed in flames and Mr. Cantor sending in a toddler with a squirt gun to solve the problem."
The red-meat conservative types over at Red State blog have no time for such a gimmick. "So it's an exercise that really does nothing and waste congressional GOP leaders' time. It's a PR gimmick. How stupid do they think we are? Nice try Eric, but we don't find parlour tricks entertaining right now," writes Ron Robinson, calling the proposal "hollow, lame".
The site does have an option to send in your own suggestions, so if you feel like calling for a 90% cut in military spending – now that would put a dent in the deficit – then go right ahead.
