The United States has a serious spending problem, and the latest instance of this can be seen in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, which is over 400,000 words long. The act was signed into law last Friday, and despite the fact that the country is nearly $19 trillion in debt, it shows no signs of conservation.
The staggering 887 page behemoth of a document allocates $1.15 trillion in war and discretionary spending for the fiscal year of 2016, which actually started about three months ago. Just as a reference, that’s about $1.3 billion in spending per page of the bill.
Needless to say, it is actions like this that make paying down the country’s debt utterly impossible. And by signing this bill into public law, President Obama has essentially sent the finances of the American government to a point of no return.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act features a budget breakdown for each department that outlines what the government is authorized to spend this current fiscal year. Keep in mind that this does not include all of the government’s planned spending next year. Not even close.
It actually gets even worse. The $1.15 trillion in “discretionary” spending doesn’t include programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Last year, the government spent about $2.45 trillion on such programs, and that number is likely to be even larger this year.
With spending like this, the country will never be able to escape debt. In fact, the country’s debt has become so large, that the United States incurs more than $400 billion annually in debt interest. This amount is so large, that debt has even received its own personal category of government spending.
With war and discretionary spending, social programs and interest rates on debt, government spending by the United States is set to hit $4 trillion for the first time in history. Basically, the already monstrous debt in the country is growing at a faster rate than ever before. It’s a runaway train, and the government is essentially helpless in stopping it.
The government can’t change what it owes to bondholders without causing a financial crisis, and it can’t adjust Social Security or Medicare without causing a political crisis. While the government could realistically change discretionary spending, this is easier said than done. After all, cutting back on military spending would make the country appear weak. Cutting back on national parks would be bad for the environment. America is too accustomed to its standard of living to make any real changes. The country is doomed by debt.
The $1.15 trillion allocation to discretionary spending represents a 6.6% increase from the previous year. This amount is particularly shocking, considering that the government claims inflation levels are currently very low. So while the country is $19 trillion in debt, the plan is to expand the government even further. Meanwhile, the country has also passed a tax package that will reduce tax revenue by $622 billion, though it won’t affect personal tax income. Spending is up and revenue is down. America is sinking.
And the cherry on top is that the spending bill also included the infamous CISA provision. Not only have lawmakers managed to suck more money out of America, they have also managed to take away more American freedoms.
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