If House Republicans were serious about making spending cuts, it’s easily done.

By Cutting Back Anywhere And Everywhere.

t the start of the Netflix self-help documentary “Get Smart With Money,” a voice actor says, “How do you get ahead without taking out loans?” That, in a sentence, is the maddening thought process that animates Washington — Republicans, Democrats, and the media alike.

As we approach the federal debt ceiling, Republicans are doing the thing where they swear they won’t raise it without spending cuts, only to inevitably trip over themselves when asked the most innocuous, straightforward questions pertaining to what specifically they would like to reduce spending on.

With everything on the table, there would need to be a 26 percent reduction. If you remove “defense spending” — which more accurately is military contract welfare — veteran benefits, Social Security, and Medicare (essentially, the most popular programs), there would need to be an 85 percent reduction in spending in every other area of the federal government.

The intent is to scare Republicans, who, without fail, face that reality, and suddenly can’t blink or speak. Or worse, they come up with some politically suicidal proposal.

This round will probably be a repeat, but if House Republicans were serious about making spending cuts at least practical, if not immediately achievable (Biden and Senate Democrats will nix any attempt), it’s easily done.

First, there’s no reason for the government to hold itself to a timeline on when the budget should be balanced. That is far too ambitious for the worthless, cowardly dummies in Congress.

Second, the only way to get started on reducing spending, let alone balancing the budget, is to get started on reducing spending. Start somewhere. Anywhere. Take Sen. Rand Paul’s annual government waste audit and spin the wheel. Wherever the arrow lands, whether it’s the nearly $2 billion for “maintaining 77,000 empty Federal buildings,” or the $200,000 for the Pentagon’s “Starbucks espresso machines,” gets a 10 percent cut. Or 5 percent. Anything.

Trim it back. And if anything is as critical as the government bureaucrats say it is, they’ll figure out how to make it work with less. Just like everyone else in America.

But again, this would require Republicans to actually start somewhere. When have they ever done that?

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