In recent months, there has been much clamor about the state of our economy and what ought to be done to stabilize it, and eventually restore productivity and growth. But what we don’t hear about is the government’s complicity in creating a crisis that could have been avoided entirely. We do not hear calls from Congress to control government spending and reform the social programs that annually drain our federal budget. Instead, Congress tells us that we need to give them more of our money so that they can spend it according to their own agenda – which is usually not beneficial to the state of our economy and the public in general.

“The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases.” – Thomas Jefferson

Regardless of party affiliation, the amount and the rate of increase in spending and the overall size of the federal government should concern every citizen. As of today, the public debt that has accrued because of reckless spending by the politicians in our federal government is over $5 trillion. The total debt, which includes debt between various government departments and agencies, is over $10 trillion.

This is not a partisan matter and never should be. This is serious – and it ought to concern all of us.

Over the past few years we have heard excuses and blame from our politicians, but not a solution. Their idea of “fixing” the problem is to either raise taxes or lower them. They tell us that the increased spending is necessary to fund our government programs and protect us from a variety of crises that could occur if we don’t. They tell us that we, as taxpayers, need to make sacrifices to get through our rough times. But what you will almost never hear from most politicians is that they will get the federal budget under control and make the needed cuts that will relieve the pressures on the average citizen and taxpayer.

It’s time for real change and real reform in our federal government. Most of the current problems with our economy are a direct result of government expansion and intervention. The politicians in Washington D.C. are perfectly content with confiscating our earned income and spending it freely to the point that they have to borrow more money than they actually collect. This puts us in massive debt and in grave risk of an economic collapse by the hands of the very people who are charged – under oath – to “promote the general welfare” of this nation. Extraordinary debt and a fiscal meltdown don’t exactly promote the general welfare and it is well past the time for the American People to demand fiscally responsible government.

But just what are we up against? How bad has the federal government indebted us? Let’s look at some of the numbers.

Federal receipts (revenue collected) for fiscal year 2007 totaled over $2.56 trillion. Total federal expenses totaled over $2.73 trillion. That gives us a spending deficit of nearly $170 billion.

Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid accounted for roughly 42% of total federal spending in 2007. That represents a total of over $1.14 trillion. In comparison, national defense spending was only 20% of federal expenses, or about $550 billion.

This needs further explanation and analysis. Many people have claimed that the Afghanistan and Iraq wars are unnecessarily putting this country into massive debt. That claim is based either on complete ignorance or on a gross fabrication. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the two wars have cost $752 billion from 2001 through February of 2008. That spending represents only 4% of the federal total over the same period. (It should also be noted that defense spending – despite the war costs – has been at a 45-year historical low.) In contrast, Social Security and Medicare spending from 2001 to 2008 was well over $7 trillion.

Let’s not forget that national defense is one of the actual responsibilities of the federal government as outlined by the Constitution. Taking money from individuals, at a disproportionate amount, and giving that money to other individuals based on their individual needs is not a government responsibility. The federal government should not be in the business of confiscating earned wealth from one person and giving it to another – especially to the tune of over a trillion dollars annually and particularly when revenues fall short of expenses.

We are not increasing our debt because of defense and war spending. Our government is slowly going bankrupt because our politicians cannot control their own hunger for power and their own addiction to vote-buying social programs. But let’s get back to the numbers.

From 1988 to 2007, the federal government has spent well over $35 trillion. In just the last ten years, that total is more than $22 trillion. In all but just four of the last 39 years, the federal government has run an annual deficit.

The fourth largest expense in the federal budget, behind Social Security, Medicare, and national defense, was interest paid on the national debt that the federal government created. In the 2007 fiscal year alone, the total interest paid on the national debt was over $433 billion. (On a side note, the interest paid on our debt since the start of the war in Afghanistan until the beginning of 2008 was well over $2 trillion – nearly three times the cost of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars combined.)

So, when you hear politicians talking about a “crisis,” they are right – we do have a crisis. Our crisis is a direct result of their failed policies. The programs they have implemented and the carelessness they have demonstrated with their mismanagement of the nation’s confiscated wealth has led us headlong into a crisis that could have easily been avoided. The remedy is not to give them more of our money or to allow them to pass additional destructive legislation. Congress needs to be reined in. Our federal government needs to be audited.

Citizens need to stop asking for or depending on handouts and stop looking for more regulations and mandates from the institution that has repeatedly displayed its incompetence and its unwillingness to correct its failures. Politicians in our government are neither better caretakers of our individual wealth nor are they superior decision-makers for our individual needs. As President Gerald Ford once said, “Whether we like it or not, the American wage earner and the American housewife are a lot better economists than most economists care to admit. They know that a government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”

It is our duty as citizens of the United States to keep a careful eye on our government and to ensure that they are acting in the best interest of the American People. Our government today is gradually selling our future to other nations in the form of accumulated national debts and unpaid foreign loans. The only money the government acquires is that which they have taken from the People. They are spending our money – and they are spending a lot of it.

We need to ensure that we are getting a good return on our investment. If and when we are not, we need to either stop investing or hire new brokers. We cannot allow our future to be determined by a body of politicians seeking to improve their own social status and economic well-being. We must be observant of those who govern us or we will soon find ourselves paying dearly for their indiscretions.

Let the eye of vigilance never be closed.

Sources:

2008 Federal Revenue and Spending Book of Charts

GPO Historical Budget Tables

GAO: The Federal Government’s Financial Health

U.S. National Debt Clock

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