Starting with the biggest chunk of the total federal spending for the 2001 Fiscal year, Social Security accounts for 23 percent, or 422 billion dollars. This seems like an inordinate amount of money to devote to a failing program that needs to be reformed. This program needs to be dissolved and more funding for the benefit of the poor should be allotted. It is not right that some multi-millionaire gets the same social security check that a man in the Bronx does. Those provided for should not be paid just for being old. Their share should go to the Bronx man that is living barely over the poverty line.

Non-Defense discretionary spending amounts to 19% or 348 million dollars of federal s

Tax cuts for the high-income bracket should be one of the countries least concerns. The taxes the citizens of the United States are paying at the present time are extremely moderate. Tax breaks for the poor could be arranged though. As far as the presidential candidates are concerned in this issue, Bush has devoted a large portion of the budget to reduce taxes for the high-income bracket where Gore's priority for the same issue is very small. The smaller the priority for this issue at the present time, the better.

4) Sloan, Allan. "The Surplus Fantasy" Newsweek. October 9, 2000: 36-37.

Medicare is another program that should be totally restructured. Again, the savings from restructuring this program could go where it is needed in the poor community. As it stands, Medicare takes up 12 percent or 220 billion dollars. If new money funneled into the program is used to provide additional benefits for Medicare users, these benefits will never be able to be retracted. Such a long term commitment seems like a step in the wrong direction for a program that should be dissolved or restructured.

Discretionary spending for national defense made up 16 percent or 292 billion dollars of federal spending. This amount seems a little too high given the peacetime we are

Some common words found in the essay are:
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