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I bring this view from the Chinese about the upcoming United States budget cut battle only because the Chinese have a more honest look at the crisis than the Americans do.
Budgetary dead wood weighs down hard-hit US [ February 25 2011]
The struggle over the massive budget deficit and debt burden in the US is getting ugly.
US President Barack Obama has come up with a plan to start reining in the deficit, but the Republicans who now control the US Congress have raised the stakes by passing a more immediate package of cuts to government programs.
Top Republicans, some of whom are hoping to become the party's presidential candidate for the 2012 election, are trying to out-tough each other with their calls for bigger and bigger cuts.
If a compromise isn't reached in the US Congress, there could be a crisis as the government is only currently financed through March 4, and might be forced to shut down if the Republicans don't get what they want and play hardball in return by refusing to vote to extend funding.
Meanwhile, in states, cities and counties across the US the budget ax is also being sharpened. Hundreds of thousands of workers, from police officers to teachers and janitors, are set to lose their jobs as local governments seek to balance their budgets.
In Wisconsin, the Republican governor's decision not only to force the state's union workers to pay more for their pension and healthcare benefits but to restrict their union rights has led to days of mass protests and become a rallying point for the nation's battered labor unions.
Even in New York City, whose budget isn't in as bad shape as most, more than 6,000 jobs for teachers will disappear, the majority through firings. There will also be at least 100 senior citizen centers closed, 16,000 day care places for children will disappear, and a whole bunch of firehouses will be shut.
And yet, despite all this, just about anyone in the US who was brought up in China can't believe how generous the US government still is. Heavily subsidized housing, social security payments in retirement, virtually free healthcare for the old and the poor, and food stamps, are all available, especially in a city like New York. If you are at the right age and live in the right state you can still get a lot for free.
You see, despite all the noise from Washington and the state capitals, and the real pain that will be felt in some government programs, the parts of the budgets that are being slashed are unlikely to even begin to solve the country's deficit and debt problem. read more
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