I agree with smaller government, just not randomly smaller just for the sake of it. There is certainly an efficiency problem in DC.
I believe in some semblance of a flat tax, would rather close tax loopholes than do the progressive tax/deductions song and dance, and would shut down the IRS for good.
I don't think anyone wants a "randomly smaller government". When people want smaller government, they want less taxes, less regulations, and less federal say over what people/states can do. And we all know how incredibly inefficient the government is and most of its institutions. Having sold to government institutions, they simply do.not.care.about.price. It's insane. Hardly any negotiations. All they have to do is have at least a few firms compete, and they usually choose the cheapest, but if you want someone to pay list price: sell to any government agency. excrement, I had the CIA as a client and they paid us $4 million for a product that most other firms paid like $50k. Having a budget director who actually wants to cut costs is not a bad thing.
I would cut military spending in half.
What does this mean? Reduce our standing army? Our navy? Military research? I'm all for closing our overseas bases, especially in Germany, Italy, and Japan, but ensuring we have a turn-key military that can achieve air and sea dominance in any potential conflict is important to our national security and interests. A large military isn't just a defense mechanism, but also an incredibly useful negotiation tool. Besides, military spending (even with Trump's proposed increase) will be a little under than $600 billion, which is less than 15% of our total budget. (Our outlays this year is about $3.7 trillion).
I would make medicaid a right for every person. If insurance companies want to compete for customers after that, have at it.
Medicare and Medicaid is already accessible to the vast majority of the population, especially those in lower income classes. We also spend more than $1 trillion of our budget on this. It's incredibly inefficient. Canada and the UK spend a fraction of that per citizen and have a single-payer option. We need to reform our entire healthcare system, not expand it.
A free community college option should be available.
Community colleges are paid for by the state, not federal government. If you want to pay more in Nevada state taxes so that kids can go to community college for free, go right ahead and petition your governor for it. Also, states suck at budgeting for schools. So does the government. In NYC they had Open Admissions for CUNY until the 90s, which meant anyone regardless of grades can get into any of the 4-year schools. That reduced the value of the education, and just filled the schools up with kids who didn't even want to be there. CUNY was much better off once they got rid of that, and though they did raise costs, it's still very affordable even if you're working at $9/hour, like I was when I paid my way at Queens College.
2 years of public service, be it military or something else, gets you a free university ride.
The U.S military already provides tuition assistance to active members. Not a loan, but they actually pay your tuition. Also, if you're in the military, you can save enough to pay for any community college or state school once discharged.
K-12, or maybe even 14, should be handled at the state level. Running education from DC just isn't working.
I agree, and it's mostly run by the municipalities anyway, which is why counties with higher tax rates have better public schools. And also why public schools in rich neighborhoods get more money.
No state should get more money back from DC than it contributes in federal taxes.
No argument here.
The federal budget should be balanced every year.
Well I feel the same way, but you sure do seem to want the government to spend MORE money on the things you think will help people, and think that by cutting military spending we can balance the budget. False. Besides, the national debt really isn't that big of a deal as most make it out to be. U.S debt provides a safe investment vehicle for everyone, because, let's face it, if we go down everyone does.
