MetaFilter posts tagged with Budget

US Military Cuts And A Step Towards Equality

zarq — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:00:55 -0800

Yesterday, US President Obama signed a $680bn military policy bill, which cuts military spending, including $2bn in funding for new F-22 fighter jets. However, the bill also contained the first major piece of federal gay rights legislation, and fulfilled an Obama campaign promise: acts of violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people have now been added to the list of federal hate crimes.

The C-17 Globemaster III

Joe Beese — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:44:21 -0800

January: Newly sworn-in President Obama says, "We need greater investment in... essential systems like the C-17 cargo... aircraft, which provide the backbone of our ability to extend global power." April: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says, "Our analysis concludes that we have enough C-17s, with the 205 already in the force and currently in production." May: The Office of Management and Budget proposes the termination of the C-17 program with a savings of $17 billion. July: The 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill includes funding for the program. September 29: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) proposes an amendment to strip that funding - "You can't walk through these hallways without bumping into a lobbyist from Boeing." September 30: By a vote of 64 to 34, the Senate defeats the amendment.

University of California Budget Walkout

spitefulcrow — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:16:55 -0800

Thousands of students, faculty, and staff have walked out today in protest of the University of California's budget cuts. Today marks the first day of classes for eight of the ten UC campuses, all of which have been hit hard by budget cuts as a result of the statewide budget crisis, which has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars of reductions to UC's budget. The cuts are being implemented via pay cuts and forced furloughs for UC faculty and staff, and drastic fee increases have been proposed. UC employees are worried about what is seen as the potential privatization of the nation's largest public university system. Many see the California budget process, hampered by a two-thirds majority requirement and numerous ballot initiatives blocking tax increases, as the source of the problem. Local coverage per campus: Berkeley Los Angeles Davis Santa Barbara Irvine

Schwarzenegger cut ALL state funding for domestic violence programs

Four-Eyed Girl — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:44:31 -0800

On Tuesday, July 28, Arnold Schwarzenegger eliminated 100% of California domestic violence shelters' state funding. Ninety-four shelters will be affected, and the cut may lead to domestic violence victims being turned away because of a decrease in the number of staff available, a cut in programs, or shelter closure. StopFamilyViolence.org asks California residents to contact Schwarzenegger and their state legislators and request that the funding be reinstated.

How green was my valley

KokuRyu — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:51:06 -0800

How green was my valley: California's economic meltdown The fields of wheat, cotton and cantaloupe that sustained his family for three generations are gone. The land is a mess of fallow fields, cracked earth and swirling dust. (PDF - By some estimates, 12.8% of the United States' agricultural production (as measured by dollar value) comes from California, and the majority of that is in the Central Valley). However, his particular scene of devastation, Mr. Allen argues, has nothing to do with the credit crisis, the housing crash or the downturn that has California in a vice grip. It has to do with a seven-centimetre-long, semi-translucent, steel blue fish known as the Delta smelt. This is not a story about fish. Rather, it is a story about how efforts to save the fish through a court-ordered water shortage have pushed a region already brought to the brink by recession over the edge... "In the Central Valley regional area, we've got 40,000 unemployed people. General Motors had 30,000 and got a government bailout. We're getting nothing." See also: California v Texas

Why We Must Ration Health Care

grouse — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 12:16:03 -0800

Why We Must Ration Health Care by Peter Singer.

Balancing the Budget is just sliders and buttons

filthy light thief — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:32:05 -0800

The current federal and state budget woes have lead many to create their ideal budgets to keep it all in balance, and now you can try your hand at the push and pull of budgets large and larger. You can be a nation-wide budget hero (toggle-able music) at Marketplace for American Media. The LA Times makes the California budget into buttons, where you can add and subtract whole segments of the budget in a quick-and-dirty attempt at making things even out. Next 10 have created a more detailed budgeting system in their California budget simulator and localized Oakland variation. Too much information to handle? Stockton's budget balancing options cover police, fire community service and public works, with sliding scales of money to spend on each.

Don't worry, it's monopoly money anyway.

Justinian — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:59:03 -0800

Overly confident in the economic health of the United States? Feeling sanguine about current spending levels? Haven't yet been scared out of your wits about your financial future? No worries! The U.S. National Debt Clock page is for you! Your one stop shop for all things financial meltdown related: Total debt, debt per citizen, budget deficits and spending year-to-date, total governmental bailouts, and much much more!

I, Zombie

debord — Tue, 19 May 2009 01:47:42 -0800

Colin is a new British horror film told from a Zombie's point of view. It was made for £45 and apparently it went down well at Cannes . Peter Jackson's first film Bad Taste did a similar thing. This documentary features Jackson's parents talking about taking the film to France.

Medicaid cuts shut only public outpatient oncology ward in NV.

availablelight — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 08:53:36 -0800

"We're a demonstration project, if you would, of all the things that can go wrong at once." "You know Yolanda, I think most people watching this interview think to themselves that if they get cancer and they don't have health insurance that somebody’s going to take care of them," Pelley remarked. "No, no, there's nobody to take care of you," she said. On December 31, 2008, University Medical Center of Las Vegas--the only public hospital in the state of Nevada--suspended its outpatient oncology care program. Among the 2000 existing patients left to find care elsewhere are the uninsured and under-insured. Working poor or middle class patients--the majority of the nation's uninsured--have the option, of course, of exhausting their assets until they are poor enough to qualify for Medicaid or Clark County medical assistance. However, these programs don't cover full costs and are only helpful if you can find a doctor who accepts them: Roy Scales has been calling the private doctors from the list University Medical Center sent with its letter. He has been searching for someone who will accept payment from the county's medical assistance for the poor program, which he calls insurance. It has been five months since he was diagnosed. He told Pelley he called at least 25 doctors and oncology practices trying to find care. Asked what they told him, Scales said, "'What about that insurance? Well, we don't accept that insurance.'" "What are you going to do if you can't find a doctor to take care of you?" Pelley asked. "Die peacefully," Scales said. One local oncologist has turned a storage room into a charity clinic serving 23 of those left without care. Meanwhile, in France, cancer patients have 100% of their bills covered and guaranteed access to any drug necessary, and an emphasis on early detection/treatment leading to a survival rate that is the envy of Western Europe-- as part of a nationalized health care program that costs half of what the US spends per year on health care. (More stories in this series, from NPR, on the pros and cons of universal health care programs across Western Europe.)

Zeroing out the long term economic stimulus

jeffburdges — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:42:08 -0800

Science & technology funding has an enormous long term impact on the economy, a fact that has not escaped China. Yet, Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have proposed cutting all National Science Foundation and Department of Energy Office of Science funding from the Senate American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, along with almost all other proposed funding of the sciences and technological development, as a part of a $77.9B reduction effort. Why? Well, you'll notice that Nebraska & Maine don't contribute much to science & technology in the United States, nor win many grants, and hence no bacon for Nelson and Collins. The proposed cuts include : 50% of NASA exploration for $750M 100% of NSF for $1,402M 35% of NOAA for $427M 38% of NIST for $218M 38% of DOE energy efficiency & renewable energy for $1,000M 100% of DOE office of science for $100M

For all your infrastructure news needs

Horace Rumpole — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:34:20 -0800

Infrastructurist. Although the blog is only a few days old, they've already debunked some of the myths of 24, interviewed Michael Dukakis, and grappled with Amtrak economics.

Counting Calories

puckish — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:14:31 -0800

Two social justice teachers decide to start eating on one dollar a day. See also: Food Cost Index. Day 3: $5 toothpaste, $0.97 meal Day 21: We have ventured into new territory. Soup! We are eating a good deal of bean, rice, chickpea, and tomato based foods. (Dinner: 1 Bowl of Southwestern Tortilla Soup - $0.18) Day 27: We had ramen noodles today. It was hard to find something ready to eat, so we took the lazy way out. Despite the fact that I was longing for it earlier, I now realize that we have been lucky to avoid it. It is filling, but it has very little nutritional value, and too much salt. A little dated (from September), but still worth checking out.

How The Pentagon Bankrupts America

homunculus — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:40:13 -0800

America's Defense Meltdown: Pentagon Reform for President Obama and the New Congress (2.3 MB PDF). A new report from the Center for Defense Information on the DoD's wastefulness, and suggested solutions. Recommended holiday reading from James Fallows and Andrew Sullivan.

Death and Taxes: 2009

Knappster — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 16:25:10 -0800

"Death and Taxes: 2009" is a representational poster of the federal discretionary budget; the amount of money that is spent at the discretion of your elected representatives in Congress. Basically, your federal income taxes. (prev iou sly)

online services and tools

nickyskye — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:50:16 -0800

200+ Tools for Surviving the Economic Crisis l Free printable Basic Budgeting Worksheet l Building Your First Budget l How To Create a Budget l How to Make a Budget and Stick to It l Frugal Family Recipes. MetaFilter Wiki: Cooking On a Budget

So...what are we doing there? Anyone? Anyone?

jourman2 — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:54:26 -0800

In a new GAO report it's noted that the Iraqi government will have a $79 billion dollar surplus by the end of the year (accumulated from 2005-2008). All of this is on top of the $48 billion dollars that the US has contributed to Iraq since 2005. “The Iraqi government now has tens of billions of dollars at its disposal to fund large scale reconstruction projects,” said Mr. Levin, who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, in the statement. “It is inexcusable for U.S. taxpayers to continue to foot the bill for projects the Iraqis are fully capable of funding themselves. We should not be paying for Iraqi projects, while Iraqi oil revenues continue to pile up in the bank,” Mr. Levin said.

Brok en Pip e l ine

Gyan — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:46:32 -0800

An unprecedented five consecutive years of stagnant funding for the National Institutes of Health is putting America at risk - a few prominent research institutions get together to voice their concern over flat funding of the National Institutes of Health over the past 5 years, in their report The Broken Pipeline (pdf). Bloggers comment [1, 2, 3].

Doing less with more

Smedleyman — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:12:46 -0800

Bush requests $515.4 billion in funds for the defense budget from congress. So what do those numbers mean? The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments states the DoD’s base budget will grow to record (or near-record) levels and will require even greater increases in the coming years. The troops wouldn’t mind the planned pay raises commensurate with the private sector, housing that doesn’t smell like bug powder and mold, and chow that doesn’t turn your stomach. But according to the CSBA’s analysis ( here * caution PDF) , it’s doubtful that even an ideological Bush clone would be able to implement those increases given the economic realities. Some vets blame the silence of the generals. Should everything have changed post 9/11?(*PDF)

A four-year-old's fiscal priorities

textilephile — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 17:11:45 -0800

A four-year-old girl (YouTube 1:26) is interviewed about her views of various hypothetical budgetary allocations. It is called "A SOTU Response," but it isn't really directly related to the SOTU. Via Plastic.

But I Want a New Yacht

fenriq — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 17:03:05 -0800

Scraping By on $150K a Year
My heart bleeds for people who earn a six figure income but are still dirt poor. In a skewed distribution model with the median income ($43,000 in 2002) being in Salina, Kansas and moving a mile east or west for each $1000 above or below that median, the Bush's would be four states away in Columbus, Ohio and the average CEO would be in....Kabul, Afghanistan. The top 400 incomes would be three quarters of the way to the moon. From a 2003 article at Alternet so they're probably beyond the moon now and on their way to Mars. From 1979 to 1997, the average annual income of the top 1% (after taxes) increased by 157% (or $414,000) while the poorest 20% went down by $100.

Are you covered?

owhydididoit — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 22:52:12 -0800

Some call FEMA's administration of federal flood insurance and disaster relief illogical and illegal, although you won't find that in FEMA's recent summary of Katrina, which reveals that $15.3 billion dollars in federal flood insurance claims have been paid. That's quite a bit more than the National Flood Insurance Fund's budget, and you may recall that payouts didn't go smoothly. Still, having federal flood insurance, as opposed to relying on disaster relief, has proven its worth during the rebuilding process. Certainly Katrina was an extraordinary phenomenon, unlikely to be repeated any time soon. Perhaps that's why the annual disaster relief budget is smaller this year.

How much is that seat in the exit row?

anjamu — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 02:09:39 -0800

Get 'em while they're hot. Northwest Air Lines figures it's gotta pay the bills somehow, starts charging $15 for aisle and exit row seats.

Flip Your Id! It's Astro Sounds from Beyond the Year 2000!

jonp72 — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 17:00:59 -0800

From Inner Sounds to Astro Sounds Session guitarist Jerry Cole made several albums of instrumental surf rock as the leader of Jerry Cole & His Spacemen, but after playing on sessions that produced the Byrds' Mr. Tambourine Man and the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album, he realized he had to adapt to new musical trends. In the summer of '66, Cole responded by bringing several session buddies together to record The Inner Sounds of the Id, a psychedelic studio creation that was at least a year ahead of its time. The story might have ended there if the producer hadn't stolen the Id's session outtakes... (more inside)

No Libraries Left Behind

327.ca — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 11:48:13 -0800

"How are EPA scientists supposed to engage in cutting edge research when they cannot find what the agency has already done?" Good question. As noted in an earlier post, the EPA is one of the agencies that is facing cuts to finance BushCo's America. How? By shutting down its network of libraries and its electronic catalogue.