End of the Fiscal Year Brings More Theater, Less Substance

Today is the last day of the fiscal year and all the talk has been about a potential government shutdown.  The biggest problem with all of the talk of the government shutdown has been the lack of talk about the deficit and debt and the real fiscal problems facing the country. The new fiscal year and the looming deadline of a government shutdown bring about a real opportunity to come up with concrete spending cuts that are not only necessary but also wise. What is most difficult for politicians is to come up with meaningful resolutions to the very real problems the nation is facing. Instead, it seems, they would prefer to engage in brinksmanship all under the guise of protecting the sacred cows they hold dear (entitlements, defense, and subsidies); while working families across America continue to struggle to find ways to manage their own decreasing budgets. This is not only unacceptable, it is untenable and the issues facing the Congress and the White House over the next few weeks need to be dealt with in a substantive way so that there can be a real chance to solve the all-too-real spending problem.

During the next fiscal year the Congress must focus on reducing spending considering that the government is wasting billions and there are room for cuts in many areas. With this in mind, no program should go unchecked and every agency should be under the magnifying glass.  Sequestration has shown us that the country can handle cuts in spending, contrary to what many fear-mongers would like you to believe. When sequestration was about to take effect, there were folks from all sides of the political spectrum that warned about doom and gloom and made proclamations about how bad things would get should the automatic cuts (agreed to by the Congress (republicans and democrats) and the President) kick-in. Take President Obama himself for example, who said the following:

It [the sequester] would, “jeopardize military readiness … eviscerate job creating investments in education and energy and research … emergency responders … border agents … FBI agents…federal prosecutors will have to close cases and let criminals go … air traffic controllers and airport security will see cutbacks … more delays at airports across the country … thousands of teachers and educators will be laid off … tens of thousands of parents will have to scramble to find child care … hundreds of thousands will lose access to primary care and preventive care like flu vaccinations and cancer screenings.”

This kind of dramatic behavior characterized many of those opposed to sequestration and while everyone had their own agendas in mind, the theme was the same: THE SKY WOULD FALL! These prognostications turned out to be just as far from the truth as you could get and in fact this was the first time in quite some time that government spending declined. Marc Theissen in The Washington Post detailed the “reversal” of spending that was achieved by Republicans in Congress noting that “In 2010, the government spent $3.457 trillion, while this year it is on track to spend $3.455 trillion.” While admittedly that isn’t much, the fact is spending cuts took place, and the sky didn’t fall. The economy grew 1.7 percent during Q2, at a higher rate than in the previous two quarters. So much for doom and gloom.

The following is a list of cuts that did take place during the sequestration of 2013:

• $42.7 billion in defense cuts (a 7.9 percent cut)
• $28.7 billion in domestic discretionary cuts (a 5.3 percent cut)
• $9.9 billion in Medicare cuts (a 2 percent cut)
• $4 billion in other mandatory cuts (a 5.8 percent cut to nondefense programs, and a 7.8 percent cut to mandatory defense programs)

As for the fiscal year 2014, here are the figures that sequestration has in store:

• $54.7 billion in defense cuts (a 9.8 percent cut)
• $36.6 billion in domestic discretionary  (a 7.2 percent cut)
• $11.2 billion to Medicare (a 2 percent cut)
• $6.9 billion in other mandatory domestic (a 7.2 percent cut)

Even with sequestration and budget cuts, taxpayers continue to witness bad spending habits by those inside the beltway of Washington, D.C. For example, the House and the Senate are trying to pass Farm Bill legislation with almost no meaningful reforms; the Senate is attempting to tax the internet on consumers and businesses with the Marketplace Fairness Act. It’s ‘de ja vu’ all over again because D.C. politicians can’t figure out that we have a spending problem and to underscore that fact, this release from Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) on September 27, 2013 details the alarming amount of money being wasted by the federal government and just how much work has to be done. Now is the time to get serious on cutting spending instead of having a new (but really old) ‘showdown’ every week with the threat of a government shutdown more common that actual work being done. By enacting smart cuts in spending in various sectors throughout the federal government the economy can grow when taxpayers are keeping more of their own money and businesses are keeping more of their own profits. Talk is cheap, and getting cheaper with every ‘deadline’ we encounter in Washington.