Story here.
Remember Obama’s tough talk about how we were going to freeze our spending in 2011, 2012, and 2013? Okay, so maybe it wasn’t such tough talk. He did make exceptions for Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and Defense. And he did say we won’t start budgeting till next year (2011). But still, there was something exciting about the idea of a spending freeze that thrilled my fiscal conservatism for a few seconds as I listened to his speech.
But, once again, the realization that the talk was just talk sinks in, this time as a result of Obama unveiling his 2011 federal budget proposal. He proposes to spend 3,830 billion dollars in 2011. Now, that would be just fine, except that we’re only going to bring in a total tax revenue of 2,270 billion, meaning we’ll be spending 1,560 billion more than we have, which we will have to borrow and add on to the national debt. The next two years after that should be about the same, and the Obama administration expects to add 8,500 billion dollars to the national debt over the next ten years.
Imagine if a family tried to do this. Imagine a father making an anouncement like this. “Folks, we’ve had a rough year financially. Due to some severe problems, we’ve had to spend $82,000 this year, even though we only made $50,000. We’ve had to borrow $32,000 on top of the already really high debt we had. But don’t worry. Starting next year, I’ll cap our annual spending at $82,000 a years, except that we’re also going to be spending more money for healthcare and we’ll also be paying Grandma’s bills once she retires. Over the next ten years, our family’s debt is going to increase by another $220,000, reaching about a little over a half million dollars by the end of the decade. That’s the sort of ability to make tough decisions and lead boldly that I’ve promised my family.”
Any parent who tried something like this, despite all the talk about “spending caps,” would bankrupt their family. So why, when we would instantly reject this sort of financial suicide when practiced by a family, do we allow this sort of nonsense to be done to our nation?
2 Comments
It has come to my attention that disability payments were frozen. Good one to freeze. People on a paltry income who can’t work. I can’t say I don’t know if that’s because of him or not.
Jeff
Wow. That’s especially difficult, in light of the coming inflation to be brought on by repeated overspending even during our spending freezes. I pray that the Church will be willing to step in and provide help where the government can’t.
I knew a man who claimed disability to on account of an obesity-induced back problem, while he still worked on the side for cash, failing to report it because it would show that he was not really disabled. And he was in leadership in a church I attended. Part of the problem we have is that people have such a depraved urge to take every dollar they can that there is a shortage of money for those who are truly hurting.
And on top of just the issue of disability payments, any retreat in the size of government spending always means that people who are the direct or indirect recipients of government spending are going to lose their jobs and will have to try to find other work.
Fiscal conservatism is bitter medicine, and it’s always helpful for people who (like me) advocate spending cuts, to be reminded of the discomfort and real need that we will have to step in and find a way to address.