Spending problem?

As we inch ever closer to a government default I keep hearing that we have a spending problem not a revenue problem. I personally believe that we have both a spending problem and a revenue problem as tax rates are lower than anytime since 1950.

Since 1980 the average inflation rate per year is 3.6% which means to buy the same stuff this year as last year the government should have increased spending by an average of 3.6% per year. According to the data provided by the American Presidency Project Reagan increased spending by and average of 7.6% per year, George H.W. Bush by 4.7% per year, Clinton by 3.6% per year, George W. Bush by 9.9% per year and the estimates for Obama put him on a pace for 3.5% per year.

Of the past five presidents only Clinton and Obama kept spending at the pace of inflation set over the last 30 years. So to the extent that we have a spending problem that problem has been more pronounced under recent Republican Presidents than under Democratic Presidents. It is either a political ploy or an ignorance of the numbers to place the label of big government socialists at the feet of Democrats when Republican Presidents show a much greater penchant for over spending.

There are some areas where we do have spending problems but they tend to be Republican spending priorities so they are not up for debate currently. The Bush tax cuts, for example, which were by in large supported by Republicans and opposed by Democrats are one of these areas. It's estimated that these cuts added $2.8 trillion to the national debt over the last 10 years.

The other areas where we have Federal spending problems are Defense and Health Care. Of the increases in spending over the past 10 years 81% of the increase is due to Defense and Health Care.

So while Mitch McConnell holds on to the idea that the November elections were somehow a validation of his stance against any tax increases, 52% of Americans favor higher taxes for the rich to solve the debt and 17 of 29 economists and fund managers for the top Wall Street bond dealing firms say that cuts alone will not fix the debt.

Unfortunately Republicans insist that Tax increases are off of the table, every dollar of Defense spending is justified and necessary and we have the greatest health care system in the world and asking this industry to make some of the "tough choices" that the public sector is being forced to accept would lead to a catastrophic failure of the health care system.

If the only budget items that are not sacred cows are PBS, Planned parenthood and Federal and State employees then we don’t just have a spending problem, we also have an information deficit problem. Placing all of the blame at the fallacy of big government Democrats may be good politics but does nothing to help the economy and the hard working Americans that are looking for politicians to lead in these difficult times instead of dole out politically motivated rhetoric.