If you were Congress, what would you spend without borrowing?
Washington Post has a wonderful interactive webpage that puts you in charge of spending. We all sit behind our screens and bravely make wild assumptions, opinions and other noise without ever having to perform any difficult decision. Now is your chance.
Below are my choices and my explanations.
Some things are easy:
Interest payment, social security, medicare,medicaid, military active duty.
Not only are those liabilities that the Treasury owes from previously collected taxes, but interest payment is the one thing that will ensure that no actual default happens. This is proof positive that the fear mongering performed by Obama and others is just that, fear mongering. I prefer deceitful lying, but perhaps I tend too be slightly melodramatic.
It also shows that the path of entitlement programs are not sustainable. Monthly payments of 118 Billion on entitlements out of the 172 in revenues is nothing short of crazy.
Some things are tougher:
Veterans programs, food/nutrition/TANF.
We cannot abandon our veterans, but the nature of these programs at least raises questions. What are these programs specifically, what do they do and what do they cover. Is it health related or beyond that? Same with TANF. America will never abandon its most needy citizens, but we are now giving out record number of food stamps per year! This is of course related to the recession and a high unemployment, but after our Government spent trillions in various bailouts, stimulus, relief checks and other assistance - why oh why - are we at record level food stamp consumption?
Some things are painful:
Federal salaries and unemployment insurance.
Federal employees as reported by USA Today are enjoying the highest salaries and benefits in history while the average private sector worker is flat. Government workers are by their nature, service workers, that is they do not produce or create anything that contributes to the GDP, but rather provide services to their citizens. Thus, paying 14 Billion in services that most Americans cannot see, feel or appreciate is extremely difficult. Most Americans pay hefty amounts in the form of state income taxes and real estate taxes, these services in the form of police, fire, schools, roads and administrative assistance are visible and appreciated. Federal employees, not so much. This also includes Congress and the White House, the most irresponsible and useless federal employees of them all as can be clearly observed by the recent circus known as the debt ceiling debate. Still, causing an abrupt Government shutdown due to lack of salaries is neither desired nor useful.
Unemployment insurance is equally difficult, but similar to the food assistance program. Only problem is that the 99 weeks of unemployment benefits is the longest in history and as can be seen by the unemployment numbers not effective at getting people back to work. Instead of repealing arcane and detrimental wage laws, removing health insurance obstacles and burdens and lowering corporate taxes to encourage work - our Government is paying 12.8 Billion in month to people sitting at home!
Those payments that I refused to make were rather simple. Most have no business being federally funded in the first place and should have been shut down long enough. The section labeled 'other spending' probably contains some important funding, but if it is not important enough to be classified as its own section then it is not important for tax payers to be spending money on it either!
With that in mind, there is still a small surplus available! With adequate reform of entitlement programs, winding down military bases and going to a flat tax more money will be available, but that will obviously never happen with the embarrassingly useless Congress and President we have today.
Below are my choices and my explanations.
Some things are easy:
Interest payment, social security, medicare,medicaid, military active duty.
Not only are those liabilities that the Treasury owes from previously collected taxes, but interest payment is the one thing that will ensure that no actual default happens. This is proof positive that the fear mongering performed by Obama and others is just that, fear mongering. I prefer deceitful lying, but perhaps I tend too be slightly melodramatic.
It also shows that the path of entitlement programs are not sustainable. Monthly payments of 118 Billion on entitlements out of the 172 in revenues is nothing short of crazy.
Some things are tougher:
Veterans programs, food/nutrition/TANF.
We cannot abandon our veterans, but the nature of these programs at least raises questions. What are these programs specifically, what do they do and what do they cover. Is it health related or beyond that? Same with TANF. America will never abandon its most needy citizens, but we are now giving out record number of food stamps per year! This is of course related to the recession and a high unemployment, but after our Government spent trillions in various bailouts, stimulus, relief checks and other assistance - why oh why - are we at record level food stamp consumption?
Some things are painful:
Federal salaries and unemployment insurance.
Federal employees as reported by USA Today are enjoying the highest salaries and benefits in history while the average private sector worker is flat. Government workers are by their nature, service workers, that is they do not produce or create anything that contributes to the GDP, but rather provide services to their citizens. Thus, paying 14 Billion in services that most Americans cannot see, feel or appreciate is extremely difficult. Most Americans pay hefty amounts in the form of state income taxes and real estate taxes, these services in the form of police, fire, schools, roads and administrative assistance are visible and appreciated. Federal employees, not so much. This also includes Congress and the White House, the most irresponsible and useless federal employees of them all as can be clearly observed by the recent circus known as the debt ceiling debate. Still, causing an abrupt Government shutdown due to lack of salaries is neither desired nor useful.
Unemployment insurance is equally difficult, but similar to the food assistance program. Only problem is that the 99 weeks of unemployment benefits is the longest in history and as can be seen by the unemployment numbers not effective at getting people back to work. Instead of repealing arcane and detrimental wage laws, removing health insurance obstacles and burdens and lowering corporate taxes to encourage work - our Government is paying 12.8 Billion in month to people sitting at home!
Those payments that I refused to make were rather simple. Most have no business being federally funded in the first place and should have been shut down long enough. The section labeled 'other spending' probably contains some important funding, but if it is not important enough to be classified as its own section then it is not important for tax payers to be spending money on it either!
With that in mind, there is still a small surplus available! With adequate reform of entitlement programs, winding down military bases and going to a flat tax more money will be available, but that will obviously never happen with the embarrassingly useless Congress and President we have today.
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