conservatives want to cut environment and arts spending
everyone hates tax shelters
The reason this never leads anywhere is that all of these are distractions and fake arguments in several ways.
First, "My 48% is willing to cut your 48%’s must-haves” is not a compromise and therefore not a solution. Sure, if the United States had never embarked on the Iraq War, its budget would be better. Yes, and?
Second, promising to “start with” small items that do not plug budget deficits is a waste of time. The amount of public money spent on arts is 1/10,000th of the problem, so progress on that front is so far from solving the problem that it’s an evasion.
Third, people have no idea what the government actually spends money on (old people), where it gets money from (foreign central banks),