YouCut: Vote for the Programs You Want Eliminated in our Bloated Government

Eric Cantor, the Republican Whip in the House of Representatives, has been operating an on-line program, called YouCut, which describes five government programs or expenditures each week and allows the People to vote for the one they most want to be cut.  Cantor then proposes the cut on the House floor and demands a vote.  Each week, the vast majority of Democrats oppose the cut, while the majority of Republicans vote for the cut.  Because the Republicans are so out-numbered, the Democrats are almost always able to keep the spending going.  But, it does put them on record for favoring a program or expenditure many voters and taxpayers oppose.  This provides election time ammunition for a canny Republican opponent, maybe even in a primary where the incumbent Republican voted to sustain the unpopular program.

This program is also valuable for the People, since it makes it easy for them to become familiar with many wasteful programs and identifies many special interest groups taking advantage of them.   YouCut should be maintained whether the Republicans gain control of the House in the November 2010 election or not.  Keeping it in place will help to keep the Republicans focused on making the cuts in government programs that are very badly needed.  The program is already rather popular, with 1.3 million votes cast.  Please add your own votes.

The programs which won the People's votes in previous weeks and were brought up for a vote in the House are listed below.  The votes are given as cast by each House member, but after week 3, the final tally is not given at Eric Cantor's YouCut website.  I was not willing to count the Yes and No votes to get the total, but look up the vote of your representative.  For the first 3 weeks, the vote on the cut is given as [Yes, No].

Week One: Cut the New Non-Reformed Welfare Program ($25 Billion Savings) [177-240]

Week Two: Eliminate Federal Employee Pay Raise ($30 Billion Savings) [183-227]

Week Three: Reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ($30 Billion Savings) [180-230]

Week Four: Sell Excess Federal Property ($15 Billion Savings)

Week Five: Prohibit Hiring New IRS Agents to Enforce Health Care Law ($15 Billion Savings)

Week Six: Taxpayer Subsidized Union Activities ($1.2 Billion Savings)

Week Seven: Prohibit Stimulus Funding for Promotional Signage (Tens of Millions)

Week Eight: Prohibit Sleeper Car Subsidies on Amtrak ($1.2 billion Savings)

Week Nine: Bipartisan Proposal to Terminate AEITC ($1.1 billion Savings)

Week Ten: Require Collection of Unpaid Taxes From Federal Employees ($1 billion Savings)

The Democrats just voted against collecting unpaid taxes from Federal employees, thereby allowing federal employees to receive taxpayer money without paying their own taxes. I suppose that just warms your heart to know that the Democrats think so highly of "public service" and so little of the People who serve as hosts to many of the public servant parasites.

One might argue in this day of trillion dollar programs that cutting programs which are only a few million or tens of millions of dollars a year does not matter.  But, the accumulated effect of the cutting of such programs on a weekly basis over a few years time will be very significant.  It also sends a message in a clear way to our Congressmen to keep them focused on better and leaner government.  Finally, it puts a great many special interests on notice that their subsidies and special treatment are subject to being cut at any time because the People are finally paying attention to their games to take advantage of the People.  This is a step in the right direction toward getting Congress and the special interest groups to take the American People seriously.  We need to be on watch and make it known that we are watching and then acting to take our government back!