Mmmmmmm...Pie

Ahah! Here's something I can sink my teeth into.
Above you can see a chart of the discretionary spending by the federal government for 2012. Discretionary Spending is the kind that the president negotiates with Congress annually, not the kind that Congress votes into law.
Why do I care more about Discretionary Spending? Because it can be changed quickly and easily, without an act of Congress. I only have 3 suggestions.

1. See that Military Spending section? It's a hog. Cut it down to size.
   I'm not advocating a total elimination of the military budget. We still need a means of defense. But anyone seasoned in history understands that a bigger military does not guarantee a safer country. If that were the case, somebody would have conquered Switzerland and Liechtenstein a looooong time ago. And nowadays, with a global economy, that's even truer. Nobody wants to go to war with the U.S. because we are such a massive consumer that it would crush everyone's economy if we lost our vitality.
   That being said, we need to set aside enough money to protect our homeland. But NOT to occupy any other countries. That just makes us enemies. A threat like the Taliban is like a virus; it's much easier to protect yourself than it is to try to find every virus in the world and kill it.
   Speak softly and carry a big stick.
   
   
2. Fatten up the Education budget.
   Who do you think creates the next generation of defense, as well as the next generation of . . . everything? Scholars. Professionals. People who take advantage of a complete education. People talk about China's unfair monetary policy and exploitation of U.S. consumption, but guess who's thinking up all those diabolical plans to dominate Uncle Sam? China's ridiculously superior students. The U.S.'s reputation as a leader in education only extends to universities. I won't go into how we should allocate education funding, but for starters we definitely need a lot more of it. It is the ultimate intelligent investment.
   
   
3. Eliminate private-government interaction.
   This one has nothing to do with the pie chart above. I hope somebody remembers all the sins and lies I discussed in my final speech, but if you don't here's a quick explanation of why corporations and government need a restraining order.
   We are under the impression that the people we elect are working to serve us, their constituents. We vote, we join interest groups, we exercise our rights, as we should. But if at any point in time a lobbyist or corporation influences our representatives, our democracy breaks. It is no longer a democracy but a totally different kind of government--a plutocracy. As soon as we eliminate all corporate-government interaction, then our government would have no reason to spend money for anything other than the interest of the majority of people. It isn't perfect, but it's the closest to it.