Can you balance the federal budget by stopping earmarks?

Vaughn Ward has indicated that he wants to balance the federal budget by stopping bailouts and earmarks. Will this balance the budget?

Bailouts: are a huge issue. We cannot continue to use bailouts to stimulate the economy for two reasons. First, it is debt which must be paid back. Second, much of the bailout money went to special interest groups including Fanny Mae. Very little of the stimulus money went to the private sector to create jobs.

However, we had massive deficits before the bailout era. So that leaves us with balancing the budget by stopping earmarks.

Earmarks: in 2009 there were 9287 total earmarks that cost $12.8 billion. If all earmarks were eliminated that would save us $12.8 billion. However, $12.8 billion is only .3 percent of the total budget. The deficit is $1.8 trillion. We need to find savings 140 times larger.

Conclusion: while stopping earmarks is wonderful and a good idea, by itself this strategy does absolutely nothing and only plays to the prejudices of the voters. Real solutions must also focus on social spending and military cuts. I hope someone running for national office will have the courage to say it.