Last year alone, the federal government spent $1.4 trillion more than it took in from various sources of revenue — mainly taxes. This year’s deficit is expected to widen to an appalling $1.5 trillion.
Most Americans are troubled and some are downright frightened about the threat that Washington’s constant deficit spending poses to our economic future. We simply cannot keep living beyond our means as a nation without expecting severe negative consequences.
But instead of addressing Americans’ concerns about annual deficit spending — not to mention our total $13 trillion national debt — Democrats in Congress are pushing a budget-cutting “gimmick.”
House Democrats are boasting that they have voted to trim $7 billion from President Barack Obama’s budget for next year. Now, in most contexts, $7 billion is a lot of money. But the president has proposed a $3.8 trillion budget for the next fiscal year. So eliminating $7 billion is the equivalent of cutting only about $1 of every $543 in that enormous budget.
That is not a serious plan to reduce the size of the federal government. It is a “feel-good” measure to try to convince the American people that Congress is actually doing something to cut deficits.