I had an experience that I'll never forget when it comes to budgets and planning. Group project. It was a simple task, take the budget and cut 200 billion from it. Sounds easy.
When you take every line item and search and search. I can assure you it was one of the hardest tasks. In every case, any cut lost jobs, hurt the program, and even hurt or hindered help for people.
The news singles each of these out as one huge program and paints a horrific picture when not approved. Where blame is cast to politics, no matter the party.
My point is, these programs must be looked at from a whole perspective, not individual. That's why it's broke. There are not 4 pies to take slices from, there is only one.