Hey, Nan, are you a fan of the think tank Taxpayers For Common Sense?

Well, I am.

(*PAUSE*)

I'm taking the time to look through their latest report outlining their concrete suggestions for bringing federal spending under control; I hope you will do likewise.

In the meantime, allow me to highlight their recommendations:

Eliminate the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) -- Savings $25 billion

Eliminate Commodity Crop Subsidies -- Savings $26 billion

Reduce Nuclear Weapons Delivery Platforms -- Savings $35 billion

Disallow expensing of Intangible Exploration and Drilling Costs -- Savings $8.9 billion

Cancel the Upper Mississippi River Navigation Lock Expansion -- Savings $2.1 billion

Defund the I-710 Tunnel Project -- Savings $11.8 billion

Now obviously, Nan, there are two sides to every story and one person's pork is another person's (claimed) responsible and necessary spending.

Thing is... we're broke. Busted. Indebted.

At the very frigg'n least Republicans need to stop adding to the national debt via deficit spending.

Capisce...???

Where and how to cut defense spending is always tricky for "strong defense" Republicans such as you... and I. That said, "strong defense" doesn't mean a blank check; or at least it shouldn't. There's such a thing as overkill. Just as with social programs, hard choices are going to have to be made - meaning cuts - as applied to our nation's defense budget.

The American People will no more accept from Republicans a knee-jerk "No cost is too great to bear when it comes to our national defense" than they were willing to accept a knee-jerk "No cost is too great to bear when it comes to the social safety net."

Capisce...???

I want spending cuts, Nan. I want belt-tightening.

I'm far from alone...

Your friend and supporter,

William R. Barker
Harriman, NY