Increases in Federal per Household Spending

 Politicians are once again fighting over how they can “buy” the most votes, while appearing to have the best interests of US citizens as their goal. Federal spending history shows that those in control are either fiscal idiots or only interested in feathering their own nests while in office.

The last time we had a “balanced” federal budget was during the years 1998-2001. Federal budget history shows a total 4 year surplus of $559 billion. The primary reason for the “surplus” was because Social Security collected $558 billion more than it paid out during that period. A secondary reason was President Clinton’s Welfare to Work bill, signed in late 1996. Food stamp spending dropped from $22 billion in 1996 to $16 billion in 2001; in 2021 it was $150 billion.

 

It is interesting to note that in 2001 the federal government spent $28,800 (2023 dollars) per household while in 2023 it spent $47,800 per household. Can anyone conceive of why we now need nearly twice as much federal government as we did in 2001? (Inflation adjusted spending on National Defense increased by 1.6 times during the 2001-2023 period.)

 

Balancing the federal budget is only difficult because politicians fear that if they quit handing out free stuff they will lose their ability to stay in office and continue feathering their own nests. In this time of “full” employment is should be relatively easy to reduce spending to near pre-COVID 2019 levels. If FY2024 spending was reduced to 2019 levels the SURPLUS would be nearly $600 billion, instead the projected DEFICIT is $1,800 billion.

 

A May 2023 report from the Congressional Budget Office projects that from 2023 to 2033 the federal government will increase taxes collected by nearly 50 percent; at the same time annual deficits will rise to $2,700 billion.

 

Why has the US piled nearly $80 billion of additional debt on our youth to fund war in the Ukraine? The population of the EU nations is 3.2 times that of Russia. The GDP of the EU nations is 4.8 times that of Russia. Why must US taxpayers bail them out again?


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