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KEEP SPENDING MONEY
January 9, 2023
The United States government is amassing a staggering debt by continuing year after year massive deficit spending and special interest appropriations. In April, Congress passed a $1.5 trillion Omnibus bill. In December, they passed another for $1.7 trillion. At some point, there will be excruciating pain to pay for this reckless spending. My next blog will discuss what that excruciating pain will be and when we can expect it.
In 2010, I ran for the US Senate against Harry Reid. One of the main issues was the staggering $10 trillion national debt. Today, 12 years later, our national debt has tripled to more than $31 trillion. This does not include the $117 trillion unfunded Social Security and Medicare promises.
How did we get to this point and why doesn’t government stop? Simple answer! Because politicians are concerned only about today and what will keep them in office. There is no concern for the future catastrophic damage this is going to cause.
It is both parties’ fault. It doesn’t matter who controls Congress or the White House, spending just increases. No one wants to cut programs for fear of retribution from the voting public. The public demands this spending without understanding what awaits their children, and their children’s children.
MILITARY SPENDING:
Most Americans want, no demands, that the United States has the strongest military in the world. Nothing is more important than our safety and security, but does it require the United States to spend more on defense than the next nine countries combined? The United States is spending $801 billion this year for its national defense compared to $777 billion by the next nine countries combined.
WORLD’S POLICE FORCE:
The United States has approximately 750 foreign military bases that are spread across 80 nations! The next highest is the United Kingdom with 145 bases. Russia has about three dozen bases, and China just five. It is estimated that the U.S has three times as many bases as all other countries combined.
FOREIGN AID:
In 2022, the United States foreign aid totaled $60.4 billion. The entire European Commission donated just $5 billion.
WORLD’S PIGGYBANK:
For decades, the United States has paid far more than it’s agreed upon share of NATO expenses, while the rest of the NATO members have paid far less. Candidate Trump brought this to the public’s attention and was criticized by the establishment as attacking NATO. Why is it attacking when you want everyone to pay their agreed upon fair share.
During a debate, in my run for Congress in NV-2 against incumbent Mark Amodei, I questioned Amodei about his vote to provide $45 billion to Ukraine. I asked him how much our NATO allies had agreed to pay. Amodei said they had not promised anything but that we can’t wait for them, Ukraine needed the money now. Six months later, the United States has provided $100 billion of your tax money to Ukraine. How much has our NATO allies provided?
BAILOUTS AND HANDOUTS:
During the Great Recession the federal government picked and chose which private businesses to bail out and which ones to go bankrupt. The government provided billions of your tax dollars to these companies. During COVID, the federal government provided trillions of dollars to every level of government under the guise that it was needed to survive COVID, yet most of that money has not even been spent.
EARMARKS:
Earmarks are federal funding for programs whose benefits are concentrated in one particular area but whose costs are spread among taxpayers nationally. It is federal taxpayer spending for special projects that solely benefit one Congressman’s district or one Senator’s state.
In 2011, Congress banned earmarks to reign in government spending. The ban lasted just ten years.
This past year, Congress approved 12,162 earmarks costing taxpayers $24 billion. One example is the $150,000 appropriation for a sidewalk project in Mapleton, Maine, a community of fewer than 2,000 people. Taxpayers from all over America are paying for this sidewalk.
This issue also arose in my Congressional race with Amodei. Amodei argued that he should be re-elected because he procured federal money (your taxpayer money) for his district. He procured 1/10 of 1% of the $9 billion in earmarks. Yes, this money helped his district but at what cost to the nation. 435 Congressmen and 100 Senators are all fighting to spend more of your tax dollars for each of their own special projects. Is this a reason to re-elect them?
SUBSIDIES
Each year billions of your tax dollars are spent to subsidize different industries. The federal government provides $14 billion each year to the fossil fuel industry (oil, gas and coal). Last year, a record-breaking profit year for oil companies, Exxon Mobile received over $73 million in subsidies.
The federal government provides billions of dollars each year to the farming industry, sometimes for the purpose of not producing crops. In 2020, under the auspices of COVID, the farming industry received $46 billion in subsidies. Last year, it was reduced to $13 billion.
WELFARE:
Most Americans agree that government should provide a helping hand to people who need temporary support to get a job, but it should be short term and not so much that it discourages people to work.
Last month, the Committee to Unleash Prosperity released a study examining the value of welfare benefits in each state. The report analyzed unemployment benefits and Obamacare subsidies. The study found that in nearly half of the states, a family of four with both parents not working could receive annualized benefits equivalent or greater than the national median household income.
In 14 states, the value of those subsidies worked out to an annual income of $80,000 or more. That’s the equivalent of both spouses earning $20 an hour or more while working full time. (Las Vegas Review Journal Editorial Jan 4th)
TAX LAWS:
When billionaires and powerful corporations pay no or little federal income taxes each year the system is corrupt. Granted, they are only taking advantage of the tax code, but the code has been passed by elected politicians who grovel for money from these individuals and corporations to get re-elected. The problem is obvious but there is no stomach for a real solution.
My next blog will discuss what the American public will experience from this irresponsible spending coupled with misguided federal monetary policy.
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