To the editor:
Sunday afternoon before watching the Super Bowl, I decided to tackle one of the most dreaded tasks Americans face this time of year. I gathered all the necessary paperwork and sat down to file my taxes. I began to flip through the instructions for form 1040EZ to see if I qualified to use that form (I didn’t). However I saw something that finally convinced me that our government’s spending is out of control. It was a pair of pie charts titled “income” and “outlay” of government money.
First I looked at the outlay or percentages of government spending. Social Security and Medicare totaled 34 percent of government spending. National defense including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, veteran’s benefits and foreign policy totaled 22 percent of taxpayer spending. Social programs and physical, human and community development totaled 36 percent. Law enforcement and general government totaled 2 percent. Ominously, interest on the national debt has crept up to total 5 percent of our spending. This list of spending totals approximately $3.8 trillion, or approximately $12,650 per resident of the United States. For a family of four that totals $50,600. I doubt there is one in 100 families living in Aroostook County today that would be ready (or able) to cut a check for that amount to the U.S. Treasury. I know for sure that I couldn’t.
Keeping in mind those worrying statistics I was interested to see the actual percentages of where the government gets its revenue. Social Security, Medicare, and Unemployment taxes brought in 26 percent of federal revenue.
Another 25 percent was gleaned through personal income tax. Corporate income taxes accounted for 4 percent. Excise, customs, estate, gift, and miscellaneous taxes brought in 5 percent of the federal revenue. Then came the kicker — 40 percent of federal income comes from “Borrowing to cover the deficit.” Yes, 40 percent of the money we spend is borrowed.
Let’s pretend the U.S. government was an average American family. The family has a household income of $60,000. If this family acts like the U.S. government, it will spend $100,000 this year. Does your family plan to accumulate $40,000 in credit card debt this year? (And next year? And all foreseeable future years?) If you do, you are acting like the U.S. government. If you don’t, you probably wonder how crazy you would have to be to actually consider such a plan.
Thanks to the past 10 years of deficit spending, (our government’s pet credit card debt) we have accumulated as a nation over $14 trillion in debt. It figures out to $45,461 in debt per citizen. For your family of four that’s $181,844 for your family’s debt. If you live in Aroostook County chances are your house isn’t worth enough to cover that debt.
President Obama’s proposal to freeze federal spending at 2010 levels is ridiculous. That keeps us borrowing for 40 percent of our budget year after year. (Another 40K in debt for our hypothetical 60K earning family.) The Republicans in Congress’ plan to freeze spending at 2008 levels is almost as ridiculous. (We were borrowing a whole lot of money then too!)
We need a solution. But first we have to deal with a problem: D-E-N-I-A-L. The average U.S. congressman believes that he will be re-elected if he raises government spending for his district and cuts taxes. If our nation is to survive this debt crisis we must be able to compromise. But it must be the right type of compromise.
Last year’s great compromise was Democrats agreeing to keep tax rates low if the Republicans would agree to more government spending. This did nothing but damage to the already massive debt crisis. We need a different type of compromise. We need both parties to agree to cut some of their favorite spending programs until we get the point called a “balanced budget.”
Democrats, you must be willing to cut and eliminate heavily abused social programs. Even ones that are very popular with your constituents. Republicans you must be willing to cut foreign aid (gifts) to all other countries and trim down the defense budget by at least 6-8 percent. And we must look at real solutions for
the entitlement crisis which is over $300 billion in debt this year and will only worsen as more of the boomers hit retirement.
We need to shrink our government spending by 40 percent and begin to pay back our debt. It will not be fun. It is the penalty we must pay for the decisions our government has made in the last ten years. We have found ourselves in a hole (debt). We must stop digging (Don’t get any more debt). Fill in the hole (Pay back the debt). Destroy the shovel (Pass a balanced budget amendment).
Henry Milligan
Ashland
