Jordan’s “Spending Reduction Act” would eliminate such things as the U.S. Agency for International Development and its $1.39 billion annual budget, the $445 million annual subsidy for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the $1.5 billion annual subsidy for Amtrak, $2.5 billion in high speed rail grants, the $150 million subsidy for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, and it would cut in half to $7.5 billion the federal travel budget.
But the program eliminations and reductions would account for only $330 billion of the $2.5 trillion in cuts. The bulk of the cuts would come from returning non-defense discretionary spending – which is currently $670 billion out of a $3.8 trillion budget for the 2011 fiscal year – to the 2006 level of $496.7 billion, through 2021.

It remains to be seen whether the House Leadership will get behind this proposal.  Jim DeMint has a similar bill he is introducing into the Senate.  Cuts this deep will require backbone and resolve, something many of us outside of Washington find lacking.  There are many people who feel that introducing a bill which would never be signed by the President to be a time waster.  (Jordan’s proposals have been announced as DOA in the Senate, but remember, Reid has 19 members up for re-election in 2012 who won in conservative states by pretending to be fiscal conservatives.  There will be a real pressure over the next 2 years for them to prove their bonafides.  Reid will have increasing trouble in holding them to the liberal fold as election time draws near.)  My personal belief is that they should pass these cuts, and make the President and the liberal law makers defend their tax and spend positions.  Jordan calls for a reduction of the federal workforce of 15% and a 5 year freeze on all increases of federal pay.  In other words, make those living on the government teat participate in the recession as well.  We have reached a point in America where the Productive Sector of the economy is now on an even size as the Public Sector.  Greece is what happens when the Public Sector becomes bigger than the Productive Sector. 

There is one Caveat to this.  At some point in time, Entitlements must be confronted.  While I applaud Jordan for introducing cuts which exceed the cuts suggested in the Pledge to America, They will not bring us to a point where revenues equal expenditures.  The deficit will still continue to grow, but just at a slower rate.  At some point, our bond ratings will one day fall, which will make it more expensive to borrow money.  while this is a good second step, we must be planning to take a third, fourth, and fifth step, and then continue from there.  Defense, which is the only legitimate endeavor that our government takes, is the only thing the Democrats wish to cut ever.  Jordan has included huge cuts in Defense spending as well.  Even with all of his cuts, it will not be enough, unless we attack the gorilla in the room.  Entitlements and debt interest account for about 65% of our annual expenditures.