So much for cutting back – Federal spending up 5%

Even with the TEA party. Even with Republican control of the House. Even with the economy in trouble with 9 percent unemployment. Even with the mortgage issues. Our federal and state government moved right on ahead and increased their total spending by 5 percent. How much has your spending increased?

From Investors Business Daily, with my emphasis in bold.

When Republicans took control of the House in January, they pledged to make deep cuts in federal spending, and in April they succeeded in getting a bill advertised as cutting $38 billion from fiscal 2011’s budget. Then in August, they pushed for a deal to cut another $2.4 trillion over the next decade.

Some analysts have blamed these spending cuts for this year’s economic slowdown.

But data released by the Treasury Department on Friday show that, so far, there hasn’t been any spending cuts at all.

For those of you who say the government is cutting programs and services everywhere, I want you to stop it. Stop perpetuating the total and complete myth that government is spending less and less and providing less and less. It’s a total and complete lie.

Look at the chart below courtesy IBD and note the source data. It’s not from a conservative or libertarian think tank, rather the US Treasury. The total state spending continues to increase even as the federal government becomes more of a safety blanket for the states. This is not good folks, not good at all.

And keep in mind, the current-year federal deficit will easily eclipse $1 trillion, probably more than one-third of the federal outlays for 2o11.

America, we have a spending problem. Quite honestly, I really don’t think putting more Republicans in Congress or taking over the Executive Branch will do much of any good in my lifetime. We must start a complete and total re-construction of the way our federal government works.

Article 1, Section 8. The Tenth Amendment. That is all.

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Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

23 Comments

  1. Dimsdale on October 17, 2011 at 10:09 am

    In our “brave new world” of the ?bamanation, any budget staying the same as last year is a “cut”, and any increase is “staying the same”.
    ?
    Time for an intervention.? The aimless OWS isn’t it; the TEA party is.



  2. Jeff S on October 17, 2011 at 10:54 am

    It’s total Washingtonese where spending increases 5% instead of 10% translates to a 5% cut in spending.?? If this were a real company, they’d be out of business ages ago.



  3. NH-Jim on October 17, 2011 at 2:23 pm

    Congress:
    Will that be MasterCard, Visa, or Discover???



  4. sammy22 on October 17, 2011 at 3:36 pm

    Steve, I agree with you that more Republicans in Congress or even a Republican Pres will substantially bend down the spending curve in my lifetime. Unfortunately I don’t think you desired solution has much of a chance in my lifetime as well. But the 3 commentators above can’t even give a nod in your direction, they only offer slogans.



    • Dimsdale on October 17, 2011 at 3:49 pm

      Welcome back, sammy!?? As for solutions: STOP SPENDING!



  5. Moe on October 17, 2011 at 7:25 pm

    ?Call me Jeremiah if you want, but there is no solution. It’s the system.



    • Steve M on October 17, 2011 at 8:46 pm

      Of course there is a solution. It’s the US Constitution and leaving almost all power and decisions to the individual states and the people. It’s been my?battle-cry?here for years, to the point where I think people might be sick of hearing it over and over.



  6. Gary J on October 17, 2011 at 8:33 pm

    ?Well there’s nothing our blue state can or will do. If I had a republican senator or congressman I’d be firing letters off daily.



  7. Steve M on October 17, 2011 at 8:44 pm

    I’m perfectly willing to admit my suggested solution – which many liberals agree with me about – will take plenty of time, even decades. The time to begin moving power and decisions back to the states is today. I really don’t think “you’re right, but it will never happen in our lifetime” is an excuse. (No offense sammy22)

    I’m suggesting this partly to improve my own situation, but primarily for the good of future generations and this country.



  8. Erik Blazynski on October 17, 2011 at 9:51 pm

    I think the Ron Paul is the only one that has floated a viable solution. I think that he is electable. Ron Paul started the original Tea Party before it was co-opted. I think think that he is electable. The only people that would object to him are the war mongers, and their ranks are thinning.?



  9. Jeff S on October 18, 2011 at 7:54 am

    Nothing will ever improve if they don’t start looking at entitlement programs and nobody down at mordoor at the Potomac has the guts to confront this problem exept maybe Congressman Ryan and we have seen what the Dems/media have done to him.



  10. sammy22 on October 18, 2011 at 10:13 am

    Steve, there is no evidence that I can see to indicate a change, in spite of all the rhetoric. This is not and excuse. Congress and the Admin are simply unwilling to come together and make spending cuts. They HAVE to come together to do it!! or nothing will happen.



    • NH-Jim on October 18, 2011 at 12:18 pm

      You’re right Sam and our only way to do this is to hold their feet to the fire.? Be vocal, write letters, etc.? The more constituents that they hear from on this matter the more they feel the heat.
      Otherwise, like I commented above, they just overcharge the credit card.



  11. Lynn on October 19, 2011 at 8:15 am

    Sammy, I agree with you and I am a lifelong Republican, with Tea Party affiliation. One Party gives to their chosen and then the other Party gets in power and gives to their chosen. The corporations and the truly powerful that benefit from our leaky sieve of? “government” donate to both sides and win every time. I don’t know what else to do, but try to work for the candidates who I trust the most, but I am disillusioned and tired of pulling harder. It is time for Term limits and taking away all the perks of Congress. I want a “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” Congress and the only way to get it, is for the People of intelligence from the right and the left to unite and Demand it.? But, not by stupid “sit ins”.



    • Dimsdale on October 19, 2011 at 8:52 am

      Term limits.? Pure and simple.? Keep the pols from building a power base, and get fresh faces in.



  12. Lynn on October 19, 2011 at 8:20 am

    Sorry I should have said s**t-ins



  13. sammy22 on October 19, 2011 at 9:48 am

    You all are hoping for things to happen that WILL NOT happen. How about beating up on your representatives to compromise and make things happen? You want no compromises and your representatives are listening.



  14. GaryInSoGlast on October 19, 2011 at 10:50 am

    ?
    This story from me comes under the heading of “Party be Damned.” The Democrats want big government because they are leftists that don’t believe in people governing themselves. The Republicans don’t believe in the Democrats governing the people. Neither side wants smaller more Constitutional government. We need to clean house of all of them that aren’t living by the oath they take to our Constitution. That is our countries only real chance of existing into the future.



  15. Lynn on October 19, 2011 at 12:13 pm

    Sammy, I have tried to e-mail a simple way to cut money from an ABC proram about how we wasted money printing siver $ that no one uses. I suggested that he sponsor this with Gop and do it bi-partesan. I got the snarkiest answer ever
    ?



  16. Lynn on October 19, 2011 at 12:13 pm

    Point is aides read e-mails sent and answer without even giving to Congressman



  17. Lynn on October 19, 2011 at 12:25 pm

    I’m on a roll now.? http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-mint-wasting-money-making-money/story?id=14052997
    Mint prints 2 million Presidential coins a DAY which go into storage (not circulation and no one wants them anyway). Now will spend $650,000 to build new storage and shipping to storage will cost $3 million. Bill passed in 2005 not to end until 2016. It is a no brainer to stop the insanity NOW….



  18. sammy22 on October 19, 2011 at 1:13 pm

    Lynn, Americans seem impervious to changes that makes sense, e.g. use the “silver” dollars. The Eurozone has 1 and 2 euro coins. They are also about to stop minting 1 and 2 cent coins. Even Turkey has a coin for the 1 Lira denomination that goes right into vending machines and public transport.



square-state-fed-spending

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