Cato Institute Proposes 94 Percent Budget Cut For Department Of Transportation

While the federal budget deficit for 2010 ticked past $1 trillion last week and President Barack Obama is pressing Congress for another $50 billion in economic stimulus money, the free market Cato Institute is pushing proposals to dramatically cut federal spending, including a nearly $85 billion reduction at the Department of Transportation (DOT).

Cato released its list of proposed federal cuts last Thursday, posted on its sister Web site downsizinggovernment.org. In addition to the DOT plan, Cato has released similar spending-reduction plans for the Departments of Commerce, Agriculture and Education.

The DOT "will spend $91 billion in 2010, or about $770 for every U.S. household," reported Cato. "It employs 58,000 workers and operates 85 different subsidy programs."

For the DOT, Cato advocates eliminating both the Federal Highway Authority and the Federal Transit Administration, and also suggests that lawmakers cut several aspects of the current Federal Aviation Administration.

Cato’s proposal would reduce the DOT’s $91-billion budget for fiscal year 2010 to a mere $6 billion -- a 94.4 percent decrease.

On the Web site, Cato argues that the operations cut from the DOT could be managed more efficiently at the state level and in the private sector.

Cato’s federal and state budget expert Chris Edwards, author of the book Downsizing Federal Government, said the Department of Transportation maintains and funds many aspects of transit that “are properly the responsibility of state and local governments” and the “private sector.”

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