Here are some cuts I propose for Bush and company for the coming year. I'm not in  all cases suggesting we do away with these departments completely, but that we seriously cut back (he said he wants to remove redundant federal agencies among other things). I'm sure most people will agree with some departments, disagree with others:

• The Department of Homeland Security: Homeland Security should be under an already existing cabinet post, that of the Defense Department. The United States was already set up with a Homeland Security Department prior to 9/11; they're called the state National Guards. A post and a few staff at the national level to coordinate between the states is all that is needed to efficiently operate
• The National Endowment for the Arts: Congressional pork at its finest. If pissing in a jar and putting a crucifix in it makes one an artist, call me Picasso. Seriously, though, the arts, while a vital part of our society, should be privately unerwritten. Period.
• The National Education Association: The "other" NEA, this one is redundant in that it replicates each state's education association, and has created bureaucratic waste that has drained dollars badly needed at the consumer (student) level and appropriated them at the administrative level.
• The BATF: A holdover from the Prohibition era, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (always wondered why they grouped those three together), has become an albatross that has cost far too much to the taxpayer. While incidents such as Waco and Ruby Ridge are now part of a bygone era, they are examples of the horrific, totalitarian control these people feel justified in exerting over U.S. citizens.
• The Border Patrol: Laughably inefficient, these units also replicate the role the National Guards should be playing in border states. Simply eliminate them and divert part of their funding to the Guard units of border states.
• The DEA: The "war on drugs" was an expensive lesson in how NOT to control drugs within our borders. The DEA replicates the role of other law enforcement agencies and should be done away with.
• The EPA: We have held our environmental standards to international standards for years. Each individual state has different environmental needs, and the powers currently granted the EPA should be granted to state environmental agencies.
• The BLM: The Bureau of Land Management should produce a plan to turn over federally held lands to state jurisdiction. Poor supervision at the federal level and a high cost to consumer make this an unnecessary expense.

I'm sure I stepped on everyone's toes somewhere in there, but I really feel these agencies need serious cuts. With a skyrocketing budget and a whole bevy of ridiculous pork barrel expenditures, it's time to tighten our collective belts.