Congress simply handed — and President Biden simply signed — the newest short-term authorities funding invoice to maintain the federal government operating.
The invoice, which primarily kicks the can down the highway, ensures that taxpayers will proceed to pay for a bloated authorities till January, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) mentioned: “…to keep away from a ( authorities’s) shutdown is so very removed from mission achieved. We now have a whole lot of work to do after the mud settles and earlier than the following shutdown deadline arrives.”
Up to now, this false state of affairs of a authorities shutdown has meant sustaining all present spending whereas including new debt. It’s uncertain that this time can be a lot completely different.
As a result of this “work” is unlikely to incorporate reforms to Social Safety and Medicare—the most important driver of the debt—fiscally conservative Republicans ought to deal with different spending to disgrace the spendthrifts (which sadly embody too many Republicans) and inform voters that their tax {dollars} and borrowed cash are wasted.
Thomas A. Schatz, president of Residents Towards Authorities Waste (CAGW.org), has give you a listing of proposed cuts to function a place to begin.
How about reducing or eradicating $196 million to the Worldwide Fund for Eire? The cash went to initiatives that embody pony using facilities and golf movies.
Talking of golf, the Pentagon introduced final 12 months that it could spend $5.1 million to construct a brand new golf course at Joint Base Andrews, when there are already 19 navy golf programs within the Washington space.
An pointless expense was reduce. It was $440,000 for attendants to push buttons on automated elevators within the Capitol Hill complicated.
The Nationwide Endowment for the Humanities misspent $4.2 million to conduct a “nationwide dialog on pluralism and id.” Nobody talked to me in regards to the topic. You?
The Pentagon and CIA employed psychics in hopes that they would offer particular perception about numerous international threats. I had a premonition about it. Value: $11 million.
A private favourite was a survey to find out the standard of life in Hawaii. It price us $187,042.
Then there was the $40 million in pretend meals stamps. 5 Floridians stole $20 million from Medicare, a part of the estimated $17 billion in annual Medicare fraud. Too many members of Congress do not appear to care as a result of it isn’t their cash they’re spending.
If Republicans had been to begin at these extremes, which add as much as comparatively small quantities of cash towards the debt, they could be higher positioned to trim the spending that’s Social Safety and Medicare. They will additionally encourage individuals to have a look at the US debt clock.
Morgan Stanley, the monetary advisory agency, summed up the debt menace we face in a latest posting on its web site: “The present federal debt pile is already huge, at greater than $33 trillion, a staggering post-WWII excessive, representing 122% of the gross nationwide earnings. product (GDP). A latest Treasury report confirmed that the federal government spent $659 billion in web curiosity funds throughout the fiscal 12 months that resulted in September — about 39% greater than the identical interval a 12 months earlier. The Congressional Funds Workplace estimates that this curiosity expense may double over the following decade, that means the U.S. authorities could spend extra on curiosity funds than on different main funds classes comparable to protection. Rising nationwide debt can’t solely increase borrowing prices for everybody, it might probably crowd out funding for different priorities.”
Debt has been a serious contributor to the decline and in some circumstances collapse of countries up to now. What makes our nation assume we will ignore primary financial guidelines and never undergo related penalties?
Readers can e mail Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Search for Cal Thomas’ newest e book “A Watchman within the Evening: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (HumanixBooks).
