Pretty sure every penny of what you call state buy outs is reflected in the totals I posted. Each department that is shown on the chart would include those payments as part of their budget.

Fact remains we must cut and cut deeply, but defense looks like the most likely target as it is discretionary funding and is simply enormous by any standard. Do we really need to spend eight to ten times more than any other country? How much do we spend on Iraq and Afghanistan? If we had that money back we would be in much better shape.

Next I would look toward rising the SS entitlement age, adding a means test and dramatically cutting farm subsidies. Then add back the tax cuts Bush put in without any decreases in spending and we are on the way to balancing the budget – something Bush promised to do.

Not to let Obama off the hook, he too is spending like a drunken sailor. Spend less, tax those who can damn well afford it and we would have a balanced budget.