The sound of pencils sharpening ...

Well, today we got the first look at a partial list of the $74 billion in non-defense/non-security budget cuts that the new Republican majority aims to propose in the upcoming continuing resolution to fund the government through the end of the 2011 Fiscal Year.

According to the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Hal Rogers, R-Ky., the 70 cuts on the partial list—many of them rather deep—“are not low-hanging fruit.”

Of course, some might suggest that cherry-picking would be a more accurate term. Especially as it pertains to those regulatory agencies that fit into the party’s “job-killer” rhetoric, such as the Environmental Protection Agency—targeted with a proposed $1.6 billion cut—and the IRS, with a $593 million cut. Perhaps to more thoroughly starve the IRS beast, the plan also suggests a $268 million cut for the Treasury Department.

Research-oriented organizations also got nailed pretty hard in the proposal, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (-$755 million) to the National Institutes of Health (-$1 billion) to NASA (-$379 million) the Department of Energy’s Office of Science (-$1.1 billion). Plenty of energy-related research initiatives also were targeted.

Defense employees, count your blessings: It’s a good time to work at DoD.