A Moral Imperative and the Legislature

There was a time when the Congress, not the Executive Branch, was the heart of national policy.  Now is the time to return to that thinking.  Here is one compelling reason.

Put five one-dollar bills in front of you.  That money represents the entire economy of the United States.  Now take away one dollar.  That dollar, that 20% of the total, is the money spent by the federal government.

            Of course, saying that a single dollar represents the federal budget is a little deceptive.  That dollar is symbolic and it represents $3.7 TRILLION in spending.  But, we are working with a dollar.  Of that dollar, 68¢ represents mandatory or “entitlement” spending.  Once the program supported by mandatory spending is created, participants are entitled to participate simply by definition.  There is no cap on how much the government must spend to support them.  We promise a specific benefit for everyone who met the eligibility, regardless of what that costs us.  While your legislators certainly had complete control of how these mandatory programs were created and designed, they have no control over them now.  That dragon is out of the cave and there is no getting it back. 

            What do we get for this 68¢?  Well, 23¢ goes to Social Security, 15¢ to Medicare and 9¢ to Medicaid, which means most of this money goes to the elderly--good.  Of the remaining money, 8¢ goes to Income Security (a fancy name for welfare), 7¢ goes to an array of other programs such as military retirement and veterans’ benefits--also good.  Six cents is needed to retire the debt.  These bills grow or shrink, depending on how many people need these services. 

If the government owes more than it has (like to pay the interest) they have to get it from everyone who pays taxes.  Speaking of that interest payment, keep in mind that last year the US held a debt of some $13 TRILLION dollars. That is 74% of the entire economy!  As the debt increases, so does the interest.  No, the President may not just order more money printed to pay it off.  The President has no control over the treasury or the Fed, and for them to arbitrarily print money is highly inflationary. 

Of the 32¢ of discretionary spending (the portion your legislator actually does have some control over), half goes to defense.  The other 16¢ goes into the kaleidoscope of programs (transportation, education, courts…) that the government likes to talk about when it comes to keeping people happy. 

Remember, the President may propose a budget and send it to Congress, but that is nothing other than a wish list.  The President can’t spend a dime!  In a Presidential season that offers nothing but bad choices, why not concentrate on the people who actually control the purse.  Who is running for the House of Representatives in your district?  Do you have a Senator up for election in this cycle?  What do they think about these programs?  Are they talking big about education (only 3¢ on the dollar) but ignorant of interest on the debt (twice as much and growing); do they have lots of ideas about defense (16¢) but none about Social Security (23¢)?  The fact that we cannot change mandatory spending for the present doesn’t mean we can’t change it for the future with new legislation.

Haven’t we ignored the legislative branch of the government long enough?  Haven’t we given misplaced star status to the Executive Branch to our own peril?  Forget the President, make the legislature your brain trust and keep the faith.