Being fiscally responsible is smart
Operating a budget as massive as the US budget is a monumental undertaking to be sure. Each election cycle we hire guardians of that budget, expecting that they know what to do to protect it and to spend our money wisely. Then of course, we expect them to do exactly that. So, why doesn't it happen? There are number of reasons that aren't very complicated as we're going to take a look at each of them.
GREED - The United States Congress is literally given a blank check and because there is little accountability and oversight outside of their own body, it's easy to pull the wool over taxpayers eyes. The lust for unfettered power goes hand in hand with greed and the ability to command money that most of us could only imagine. How much are we talking about? According to the US Treasury, "we" received $4.44 trillion in FY 2023 to date. Let's take a look at what that really looks like.
$4,440,000,000,000
It's hard to really grasp the size of this amount of cash without actually seeing the zeroes! That's our money! So, if its' our money where does it go?
ZERO ACCOUNTABILITY - The Late Senator Tom Coburn, R-OK, stated after he left office, that Congress does not have a sound accounting process in place. Explain why it makes any sense to any rational thinking person not to have some sort of accounting process in place to manage such an insanely large amount of money!!!
So, let's talk about where the money is going. While Congress is responsible for actually spending our money, the President of the United States is responsible for presenting an annual budget, which supposedly determines the details of those expenditures.
President Barack Obama held the record at the time for the largest increase in federal spending in our nation's history. Again, at the time. That record was promptly broken by his predecessor, Donald Trump.
In the 8 years Mr. Obama was in office, the debt increased from $10.95 trillion, or approximately $1.2 trillion per year, to a whopping $19.90 trillion when he left office in 2016. In the single four year term of Mr. Trump, the debt rose by unfathomable $8 trillion, or an average $2 trillion increase per year. President Biden is on track to match or beat those records. The current public debt stands at approximately $33.79 trillion and rising.
Let's talk about some of those complicated issues that make this situation more dangerous.
Findings from the 2023 CBO Long-Term Budget Outlook: Over 30 Years Debt Swamps the Economy. After hitting a historical high of 107 percent of GDP in 2029, federal debt held by the public is projected to reach 181 percent of GDP by the end of 2053. CBO continues to project that spending and revenues will exceed their 50-year historical averages of 21.0 percent and 17.4 percent of GDP, respectively. Over the next 30 years, spending averages 25.7 percent of GDP while revenues average 18.4 percent of GDP. Overall, the growth of spending is projected to outpace the growth of revenues, despite both being above historical averages. [A]
Then of course, there's the debt ceiling. So, what in the world is the debt ceiling and how does it work?
DEBT LIMIT - The debt ceiling, or debt limit, is the maximum amount of money that the federal government can borrow to meet its existing legal obligations. In 1917, the debt ceiling was created by Congress via the Second Liberty Bond Act. Prior to the creation of the debt ceiling, there were parliamentary limitations on the amount of debt that the government could issue. In 1917 when the debt ceiling was created, we didn't have nearly the massive debt nor were legislators dealing with such an unimaginable size budget.
The debt limit or debt ceiling was established to provide borrowing limits. To be clear, it wasn't intended to inhibit spending money. That's what the budget is for. The debt ceiling was intended to inhibit the amount of money that can be borrowed to pay for those debts that have already been authorized by Congress, supposedly in line with the budget for that particular line item.
That was its intent. Today, the debt ceiling is nothing more than an apparatus that legislators on both sides of the aisle use to force passage of their own agendas. So, they'll hold hostage people's jobs, people's paychecks as well as the safety and security of American citizens worldwide by failing to pass long term spending legislation. As of November 2023, the US government has been funded by a CR (H.R.6363) which will expire in early spring and then they'll start the circus-like negotiation process all over again.
Those are just a few of the problems. Let's talk about a few solutions.
1. ELIMINATE THE DEBT CEILING. The apparatus that was put in place to control spending is nothing more than a tool to force their agendas. When they reach the ceiling, they just it... after the negotiations of course!
2. PASS A BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION. Operating within a budget is fiscally sound for smaller budgets like yours and mine. So, how much more the United States budget? Force Congress to operate within the confines of a set budget. This will save taxpayers billions of dollars in interest alone.
3. CONDUCT AN GOVERNMENT AGENCY AUDIT EVERY FOUR YEARS (ODD YEARS). The American people have a right to expect that our money - ALL OF IT - the money that is not voluntarily given to the government, but that is taken by the government to be used on "our behalf", is used appropriately, properly and in a fiscally sound and legal manner. Just so you know, the United States Department of Defense was given its first audit EVER in 2018 and to no one's surprise, it failed.[B]
4. PASS CONGRESSIONAL TERM LIMITS. This is morally critical to addressing the crises created by people in long term power... career politicians.
5. ELIMINATE THE TAX LOOPHOLES EXPLOITED BY THE WEALTHY. We desperately need to eliminate our current tax code, replacing it with a simple flat, step tax. The more you earn, the more the pay... period! Additionally, the legislation should include (and this won't be popular to some) an excessive wealth tax.
REFERENCES:
A - CBO: Projected Record Debt Per Capita Threatens Economic Growth
B - Pentagons' First Ever Audit