The problem Hank is in the subjective analysis of "good" / "bad" / "worse". I think you will find there is a great deal of disagreement not about which programmes should be cut because they are "bad", but with the concept of cutting any programme to save taxes. Many of us believe that taxes are a responsibility not an imposition. When we look at the US we do not see a land we would like to live in because of a low tax regime, we see a country which is the wealthiest on Earth but which has more social problems than anyone else, because of the inherently selfish nature of the society.

I don't mean to imply that all Americans are selfish, I know they are not, but generally speaking, the primacy given in the US to the rights of the individual over that of society has led to a failure to recognise that rights can only exist in conjunction with responsibilities.

Pete M