Follow the Money
March 4th, 2008 by Peter SudermanHeritage’s Brian Reidl has a new report out on federal spending, and, for anyone concerned about responsible spending, the news is not good. In large part, the report cements what we already knew: President Bush’s legacy on spending will be one of waste and excess.
This year, for every household in the U.S., Washington will spend a little more than $25,000. That’s up from about $20,000 in 2001, when Bush took office. Federal spending, in fact, has grown twice as fast as under President Clinton.
And it’s not as if we’re getting a lot for these massive outlays. The money’s being used to fund things like farm subsidies, the Medicare Part D prescription drug, and No Child Left Behind — in other words, panders and boondoggles.
There’s no easy solution to cutting federal spending, of course; recipients of federal money lobby hard to keep it flowing, and politicians use handouts to shore up their campaigns and careers. But one measure that could provide a real start — not enough, but a strong beginning — is to swear off earmarks. And that’s why FreedomWorks has developed the Earmark Pledge, a simple, straightforward promise not to engage in any earmarking for the next year.
Sen. Jim DeMint explains why this pledge is so important in this video:
For more information, visit EarmarkPledge.com.
March 4th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Jesus Christ, guys, IT’S THE WAR, STUPID. How can you possibly talk about federal spending and not say one thing about the war? Swearing off earmarks is “a strong beginning?”
There have been DOZENS of stories in the news media about government abuses, denials, incompetence, etc. over the billions of dollars simply unaccounted-for over there, as well as millions lost in KBR fraud, etc. etc. etc.
Why not a SINGLE WORD about it?
Sorry for all the caps guys, but come on. How can you possibly write about fiscal responsibility without discussing Iraq and AFghanistan?
March 4th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
[...] Continued here: Follow the Money [...]
March 4th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I agree with Sickle, the single biggest source of spending is the war in Iraq and Afganistan. It really shadows anything else that is spent every day. Ignoring such a hard fact is like ignoring the white elephant standing in the middle of the room.
Before trying to cut on anything else, freedomworks should focus on removing all the unnecesary foreing aid and war spending. Then we might continue with other programs.