Gigantic government scam

The date of writing this editorial is February 26, just days before a mandatary sequestration that was designed to force the US Congress to come up with real measures to cut government spending sufficiently to address the rapidly rising national debt. The sequestration requires reduction of government spending of $85-120 billion a year for 10 years but was linked to the estimated cost government would rise at its present rate. The federal government spent $3.6 trillion in 2012, just over a trillion of which was borrowed, bringing the total national debt to $16.5 trillion. Approximately $2.5 trillion in 2012 spending came from taxpayers, the rest was put on the tab. Congress, both Democrat and Republican have not only been unable to agree on an actual budget for years, they have also continued to borrow an extra trillion or so every year just to make ends meet. Presently, almost a third of what they spend is borrowed money.

The beginning of March will see a decrease in projected 2013 spending of $85 billion because of sequestration which is a tiny fraction of the money Congress is projected to borrow. To spend only what American taxpayers give them the 2013 decrease in spending would need to be $1200 billion, not $85 billion. Something that is not going to happen in Washington. Cutting spending by $1200 billion a year would only balance the spending to what the federal government takes in in taxes, it would do nothing to reduce the national debt of $16.5 trillion. To wipe out the national debt in 10 years would take an additional $1650 billion a year which would leave only $850 billion to run the entire government each year from 2013 to 2023.

These numbers prove it is impossible to pay back the national debt by cutting government spending but it is possible to balance the budget without increased borrowing if spending is limited to $2.5 trillion each year. Something that is hard but possible. Doing this would completely change the landscape in Washington and cause personal hardship to almost every American, rich and poor, but is the only way to undo the years of reckless spending by both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. To decrease the national debt would require American industry to grow to WW2 levels of production output which would necessitate less government interference. Decreasing government spending by $1200 billion would keep them from hindering growth. All increased revenue from industrial growth would be used to pay off the national debt with zero being used to fund larger government.

Much is being made of the dire result of decreasing proposed spending by $85 billion when the decrease should be $1200 billion. President Obama, who by his own admission wants to increase borrowing further to grow the federal government even larger, has been campaigning for unfettered spending using scare tactics that do not reflect reality. He says the end is near. He says the poor and helpless will be thrown to the wolves, national defense will crumble, jobless numbers will rise, and the financial markets throughout the world will disintegrate if spending is slowed. Republican leaders, although not siding with Democrats, have no stomach for less spending either. Between the parties the American people have been, and are being misled by confusing financial reporting of what is actually happening and are being bombarded with scare mongering to gain public support for continued rampant spending.

And it's working.

So far the president has been successful spinning lies and miss-truths on a confused public. Congress, unwilling to do what is necessary to preserve a prosperous American future has chosen to join in the deceptions.

If $85 billion is cut from projected spending this year, and there is not even certainty of that, it is a drop in the ocean of government spending. It represents less than 3% of the total 2013 budget, and less than 10% of what will need to be borrowed to keep spending at this all-time high.

President Obama, Congressional Democrats, Congressional Republicans, powerful government unions, and federal contractors, all have an interest in continuing the institutionalized federal spending scam that is unlikely to end anytime soon. The end of reckless spending may take years to finally destroy the "American Experiment" but examining the history of other great civilizations exposes a pattern that seems inevitable. We either tighten our belts now and survive with a prosperous future, or be forced to join a global bankruptcy from which there will be no return.

Who's is to blame and who will bear the pain?

The blame rests with American leaders but they won't be the ones to suffer the pain. They have installed measures to safeguard their financial futures.

Guess who will be left holding the tab?

That's what I think. What do you think?

(As this 2012 edition of Federal Spending by the Numbers shows, total federal spending for fiscal year 2012 reached $3.6 trillion, or 22.9 percent the size of the entire U.S. economy. In the past 20 years, federal outlays have grown 71 percent faster than inflation. The average American household's share of this spending is $29,691, roughly two-thirds of median household income.)
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/10/federal-spending-by-the-numbers-2012


You can make your feelings known immediately, by commenting on this editorial through our blog, The Grapevine.

.