So, let's say your nation had just been hit by a major hurricane and you had to fund a reconstruction initiative. Let's say it was project to cost, oh, say, $200bn, give or take.
And let's say you'd planned a bunch of tax cuts that were overwhelmingly weighted towards the top one percent of your population. Might not seem totally crazy to remove the tax cuts and use the revenue to pay for the reconstruction. The rich don't hurt that badly, and millions of your poorest citizens get some desperately needed help. Make sense, right? That's what'd happen in a civilized country, right?
Right?
Apparently, that's not where we are.
This plan from the Republican Study Committee proposes, among other things, cutting federally subsidised student loans to all grad students, cutting the EnergyStar program, cut light rail pilot programs, up premiums for medicare, freeze funding for the Peace Corps, cut financial assistance to DC and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and.....well, it just goes on and on. Read it yourself. About the only things that *don't* sound insane are cutting the earmarks from the transportation bill (note: Don Young, sponsor of the $235m Bridge to Nowhere is....a Republican), and eliminating anti-drug advertising.
But, um.....America is #1. Woo.
I'd wave a little flag, but we lost funding for that.