Larry Elder: Reining in Government Spending? Let’s Get Real

The House Republican Party’s socalled freedom caucus has refused to vote in favor of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R.Calif. This is because they are skeptical that he will actually be elected. “rein in government spending.” I don’t understand why all Republicans are not members of the Freedom Caucus. Why is the Freedom Caucus necessary if the Republican Party supports low taxes and light regulation, as well as strong national security?

Here’s the problem. In 1900, all levels of government — federal, state, local — taxed Americans at approximately 9% of their earnings. Today, it’s over 32%. Ronald Reagan, former president of the United States, said it: “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”

About half of the federal budget’s spending goes to entitlement programs, such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Next comes income security. This includes general retirement and disability insurance, federal employee retirement, disability, and military retirement; unemployment compensate; housing assistance, nutrition assistance, foster care; Supplemental Security income; and the earned income tax credits. These are followed in decreasing order by national security, interest on the debt, and housing assistance. These programs, when combined, consume almost all federal spending. The federal budget is left with a small amount for discretionary spending.

Refer to the “entitlement” Portion, even Democrats have called it the spending over the years “unsustainable.”

Former President Barack Obama called these programs unsustainable. In March 2013, “Politico” wrote, “(Obama) also warned that Democrats need to embrace at least some changes to unsustainable entitlement programs in order to achieve their long-term priorities.”

In his January 1996 State of the Union speech he stated that Bill Clinton was a former President. “We know big government does not have all the answers. We know there’s not a program for every problem. We have worked to give the American people a smaller, less bureaucratic government in Washington. And we have to give the American people one that lives within its means. The era of big government is over.”

Paul Light, a professor at New York University of public service, wrote later about Clinton’s speech: “Clinton would have been much more accurate to say that the era of big government was continuing pretty much unabated. And that is precisely what the vast majority of Americans want.” Exactly. The majority of voters don’t care much about the national debt, budget deficits, or whether the federal budget balances.

Politicians, at the very least, those who seek to win elections engage in a suicide mission. This involves criticizing programs and scaring voters, particularly seniors who are beneficiaries, or soon-to be beneficiaries. President George W. Bush proposed that workers be allowed to transfer a portion of their Social Security benefits into an investment account in order to get a higher return. Bush created a bipartisan commission to study Social Security. The report stated: “Social Security will be strengthened if modernized to include a system of voluntary personal accounts. Personal accounts improve retirement security by facilitating wealth creation and providing participants with assets that they own and that can be inherited, rather than providing only claims to benefits that remain subject to political negotiation.”

Bush stated that even Democrats were concerned about the precarious state of Social Security in 2005’s State of the Union Address. “During the 1990s, my predecessor, President (Bill) Clinton, spoke of increasing the retirement age. Former (Democratic) Senator John Breaux suggested discouraging early collection of Social Security benefits. The late (Democratic) Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan recommended changing the way benefits are calculated.”

However, Democrats condemned Bush’s attempts to “privatize Social Security.” Nancy Pelosi of California, a Democratic Representative, couldn’t contain her joy over Bush’s dangerous act. Pelosi was asked about the time when Democrats would offer their plan to Congress. “Never. Is never good enough for you?” Pelosi, after attempting to persuade Bush to abandon his plan, arguing that it was a cut to the budget, called Bush’s failed attempt a political failure. “gift.”

Budget cuts are equally as important as tax increases. “Don’t cut me. Don’t cut thee. Cut that fellow behind the tree.”

Larry Elder is a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host and author. You can learn more about Larry Elder by becoming an Author. “Elderado,” Visit www.LarryElder.com Follow Larry on Twitter @larryelder. Visit www.creators.com to see cartoonists and writers from Creators Syndicate.

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