Like you, we here at AFP are keyed up over the just launched Operation Offset, spearheaded by the Republican Study Committee. It’s so refreshing to finally see politicians take the initiative and show a little fiscal responsibility.

We’ve been reading over the RSC’s Budget Offset Options (which for the most part seem reasonable) and we encourage you to do the same.

In fact, maybe you know of wasteful, redundant, or pork barrel spending that could be cut from the federal budget; if so, contact your Representative or Senator or email us at info@afphq.org and we’ll try to get it added to the list.

But in case you don’t find budgetary reading as stimulating as we do, here are a few of the more interesting highlights from the report:

• Cancel NASA’s New Moon/Mars Initiative –Savings $44 billion over ten years
• Eliminate Funding for Penile Implants Under Medicare – Savings $8 million over ten years
• Charge Federal Employees for Parking – Savings $1.5 billion over ten years
• Eliminate Funding for Democratic and Republican Conventions – Savings $53.2 million over ten years
• Eliminate Citrus Canker Compensation – Savings $139 million over ten years
• Eliminate the FreedomCAR Program – Savings $1.8 billion over ten years

Total 2006 Savings: $139,320 million
Total 5yr Savings: 543,753 million
Total 10yr Savings: $1,213,902

We hope this is just a scratch on the surface of the bloated budget, particularly in light of the impending Rita, which threatens to cause tens of billions of dollars worth of damage.