Mini-budget cuts signed

President Obama signed a budget cutting stop-gap spending bill yesterday after it was passed by the Senate by 91 votes. The bill terminates eight government programs, for savings of $1.24 billion, while an additional $2.7 billion in earmarks are eliminated. On the chopping block were eight programs involving broadband access in rural communities, education, highway construction and the Smithsonian Institution. All eight had been identified by both parties as wasteful and unnecessary. The programs that were cut fall into two umbrella categories: ineffective or duplicative. The bill eliminated $75 million in election assistance grants, which are funds allocated to help states upgrade voting machines and voter rolls.

Since 2002, Washington has pumped $3 billion into the program, but states have only found ways to spend $2 billion. And that rural broadband program? The Agriculture Department's inspector general uncovered "abuses and inconsistencies" as well as "a lack of focus on the rural communities it was intended to serve." The four education programs total $468 million, and are being eliminated for being outdated, ineffective or duplicative. The highway funds, $650 million in total, were originally budgeted as a one-time payment for 2010 but never cut. The remaining $2.7 billion in cuts cover almost 50 different earmark programs that will no longer be funded because House Republicans have instituted a new rule banning that type of spending.