The Feds' Disease: Spending! (Part 1)

 

By Chuck Norris
TownHall.com

We all know ad nauseam that Washington's spending is completely foolish and totally out of control. But will we show ourselves to be equally misguided by allowing those same bureaucratic bandits to stay in office?

Since World War II, federal spending has remained roughly between 18 and 22 percent of gross domestic product. Under President George W. Bush, spending increased from 18.4 to 20.9 percent of GDP. Since President Barack Obama took office, revenues have fallen by $381 billion and spending has increased by $508 billion, increasing the deficit from $459 billion to $1.35 trillion. Non-defense discretionary spending alone has jumped 28 percent.

According to the Congressional Budget Office analysis released Sept. 7, by the end of fiscal year 2010 (Sept. 30), there was another deficit of at least $1.3 trillion -- what the CBO labeled "the second-largest shortfall in the past 65 years," second to last year's deficit of 9.9 percent of GDP. Even if all the Bush tax cuts were repealed, the CBO concludes that the deficit still would be nearly $1.1 trillion in 2011.

The cumulative deficit from 2010 to 2019 under the president's proposals would total $9.3 trillion. Washington projects the debt to top $24.5 trillion by the end of the decade, even exceeding the GDP projection for 2019 ($22.8 trillion).

Back in August, President Obama asked, "How do we, over the long term, get control of our deficit?" That's a great question, Mr. President.

The CBO made one strong and simple recommendation: Stop spending so much. Is that really economic rocket science? The CBO's recent report reinforced exactly what we already knew: The feds still are spending out of control.

Isn't our nation seeking to recover from a recession? Then why would the federal government spend so recklessly?

Do the following sound like the fiscally responsible people and plan you want in office?

--In a mere 31 months, Congress has added more than $4.4 trillion to the 10-year spending base line. In 2005, total federal spending was only $2.47 trillion. (What about that recession the Obama administration "inherited"?)

--Even as the economy recovers and war spending decreases, the projected budget deficit never drops below $1 trillion and reaches nearly $2 trillion by 2020.

--And how about all the frivolous spending, such as the incredible $192 million splurge-fest in taxpayer money to plaster every possible highway with signs touting how stimulus cash is "Putting America to Work" with infrastructure projects?

--From 2009-20, it is estimated that the Troubled Asset Relief Program will cost $67 billion. The Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailouts are estimated to cost $190 billion.

--And of course, let's not forget the string of massive debts spent by Obama under the guise of "economic stimuli," including the $787 billion stimulus bill, the $410 billion omnibus spending bill (with 9,000 earmarks -- 60 percent Democratic in origin) and the $634 billion required for a down payment for universal health care (debt No. 4). And all of that doesn't include other so-called "economic stimuli" deemed necessary on the fed's horizon, as Daniel Inouye, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, noted when he called the mammoth $787 billion spending bill "stimulus No. 1."

--According to the Bureau of the Public Debt, as of Aug. 20, after just the first 19 months of President Obama's four-year term, the public debt grew to $8.83 trillion, an increase of $2.53 trillion.

This present administration promised hope and change, but all we are getting is more of the same.

President Obama spoke out of one side of his mouth a while back when giving financial advice to the people in New Hampshire. "When times are tough, you tighten your belts," he said. "You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don't blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you're trying to save for college."

But he then spoke out of the other side of his mouth when he informed the American public that he was proposing a record-breaking $3.8 trillion budget for fiscal year 2011, which equates to spending $7.3 million a minute. (The federal budget was only $1.9 trillion in 2001.)

It has been estimated by watchdog organizations that the government wastes nearly $1 trillion every year. That is a staggering amount, especially when one considers the annual federal budget is roughly $4 trillion.

Even liberal media predicted that Obama's spending would "leave a string of deficits dwarfing any in the nation's history." And they were right.

If our country is to survive, let alone again thrive, we must elect only those who show proof of fiscal discipline, refuse under all circumstances to increase our national deficit, disdain special interests, commit to pass and live under a constitutional amendment for a balanced budget, and would cut spending radically.

Time is running out, but it's not too late to reverse Washington's fiscal frenzy. But you only have a couple of days left to register to vote, if you haven't already. Check your state's registration deadlines at http://www.register-vote.com. And you can download the voter registration form for your state at http://www.eac.gov. Click on "Resources for Voters" and then "Register To Vote."

The future generations of America are counting and depending on us.

(Next week, I will give a specific plan and strategies for reining in and cutting federal spending. For a more exhaustive treatment of that plan based upon our Founders' fiscal prudence and wisdom, please see the chapter titled "Stop America's Nightmare of Debt" in the paperback expansion of my latest New York Times best-seller, "Black Belt Patriotism.")