The Onion Takes the Deficit Challenge

 The Onion has decided to take the deficit challenge. Their idea might just be the most original one yet: Eliminate the U.S. Senate. 

"Established in 1789 as a means of overseeing the passage of bills into law, the once-promising senator program has reportedly failed to contribute to the governing of the nation in any significant way since 1964. Last year alone, approximately $450 billion was funneled into the legislative chamber, an amount deemed fiscally unsound considering how few citizens actually benefit in any way from its existence."

They identified many flaws with the Senate, such as "a lack of consistent oversight, no clear objectives or goals, the persistent hiring of unqualified and selfishly motivated individuals, and a 100 percent redundancy rate among its employees."  Additionally, they found that "the U.S. government already funds a fully operational legislative body that appears to do the exact same job as the Senate."  Seems like the ultimate example of waste, fraud and abuse, right? 

The Onion estimated that the reduction would save about $300 billion annually, which would make a significant dent in annual deficits.  However, it would still fall short of stabilizing the debt at 60 percent of GDP. 

If anything, this is certainly one of the most politically popular ideas that has been offered in the Deficit Challenge so far.   We hope The Onion has more great ideas to offer up in the future, so we can get the debt down to 60 percent of GDP.

For more deficit challenge ideas, click here.