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Title: Heritage Foundation President Edwin J. Feulner - National Debt Now $72 trillion
Source:
Townhall.com
URL Source: http://www.townhall.com/opinion/col ... feulner/2006/03/17/190217.html
Published: Mar 17, 2006
Author: Edwin J. Feulner
Post Date: 2006-03-17 14:44:39 by Uncle Bill
Keywords: Foundation, President, Heritage
Views: 104
Comments: 4
Townhall.com The rule assumes the candidates hold on to their "bases." But sometimes they don't. Many pundits believe a liberal revolt in Democratic ranks cost Al Gore the state of Florida, and thus the presidency, in 2000. Today, Republicans in Congress, who spent 40 years in the minority before 1994, face their own brewing revolt among their base. According to the latest CBS News poll, just 28 percent approve of the job Congress is doing, while 61 percent disapprove. These numbers are similar to what polltakers found in 1994, when Democrats lost the House of Representatives to the Republicans. What should especially frighten Republican congressional leaders is that their support is as soft among the GOP rank-and-file as it is among Democrats. A mere 31 percent of Republicans approve of the job they're doing, while 59 percent disapprove. Why? Because these lawmakers haven't been true to conservative principles. Consider spending. The federal budget has swollen by nearly half since "compassionate conservative" George W. Bush took office. While that partly reflects necessary increases in homeland security and military spending, the lion's share shows extravagant spending on farm subsidies, education and pork, among other things. Congress piled on with another un-conservative action: passing the largest new entitlement program since the '60s, the massive prescription-drug program tacked onto the already failing Medicare system. This one law will cost taxpayers $854 billion in just the first 10 years. Then it'll get really expensive. With their approval ratings tanking and only eight months to go until Election Day, GOP leaders have a choice: Continue to act like devotees of Big Government, or rededicate themselves to the conservative principles that have captured the hearts -- and the votes -- of the base and the middle for more than 20 years. After all, there's a reason about twice as many people call themselves "conservative" as call themselves "liberal." Congress could begin by applying the laws it passes to itself. Remember Sarbanes-Oxley? It was supposed to clean up American business by forcing companies to engage in open accounting practices. But no entity in this country is as secretive with its books as the federal government. If, like every company in the nation, the government had to include known financial liabilities in its bookkeeping, estimates indicate the national debt would now be approaching $72 trillion. Lawmakers need to be honest with us about the consequences of their spending and find ways to control entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare as well as other forms of spending. It's time for them to start eliminating useless or superfluous programs. For example, in 2003 the Treasury Department admitted it couldn't account for $24.5 billion. That money was spent, but nobody knows what it was used for. How about finding those missing billions? At the same time, the federal government runs at least 342 different economic development programs. Duplicative programs waste time, money and talent. Congress should insist federal agencies do more for less. Granted, these are baby steps. But that makes them imminently doable. Polls show that the vast majority of Americans -- the conservative base as well as the conservative-leaning middle -- are in no mood to accept business as usual in Washington. We want government to be more responsive and more responsible. That will require a return to the conservative principles -- such as the commitment to limited government -- that today's leaders rode into office. Otherwise, they may soon find themselves back in the minority. Dr. Edwin Feulner is president of The Heritage Foundation, a Townhall.com Gold Partner. Biography Politicians and Americans Ignore Impending U.S. Debt Disaster - $72 Trillion Comptroller General Of The US: "We Face A Demographic Tsunami That Will Never Recede" "Social Security, Medicare and other retirement benefits promised to baby boomers will drive the government into insolvency"
Budget joyride might end in crash for congressional GOP
By Edwin J. Feulner
March 17, 2006 
An iron rule of politics holds that contested elections are won and lost in the middle. Roughly 40 percent of voters will vote for the Democrat and 40 percent for the Republican, leaving the outcome in the hands of the undecided 20 percent.
David M. Walker, General Accounting Office Chief - April 16, 2004, Washington Times, GAO Chief Sounds Alarm Bells On Debt.
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#1. To: Uncle Bill (#0)
I stopped reading right there. There is no bigger waste of spending than the part of the budget devoted to those two items, as we saw with Katrina and Iraq. We spend more per year on the military than all the other countries in the world combined and cannot stabilize a country with no army. However, the Iraqmire does provide a good test case of the Second Amendment. So now, whenever anyone tells you there is no way for private citizens to fight the U.S. military, you can point out to them the case of the Iraqi "insurgency."
"I stopped reading right there. There is no bigger waste of spending than the part of the budget devoted to those two items, as we saw with Katrina and Iraq. I agree. Worse, they've "misplaced" just a little money. Rumsfeld Says 2.3 Trillion Dollars Missing. I'm still glad that Feulner of the Heritage Foundation now admits our debt is $72 trillion. That's primarily why I posted this. God bless. UB.
The Hyperinflationary Depression Kate Welling interview of economist John Williams
BTTT
While that partly reflects necessary increases in homeland security and military spending
#2. To: Sam Houston (#1)
#3. To: OKCSubmariner (#2)
"The fiscal 2005 statement shows that total federal obligations at the end September were $51 trillion; over four times the level of GDP."
"Well, if you look at 2005, the official deficit was reported at around $319 billion. Using generally accepted accounting principles, the 2005 Financial Report of the U.S. Government published by the U.S. Treasury, showed a deficit of $760 billion. That’s without considering Social Security and Medicare. However, in the 2004 report’s management discussion and analysis section, the Bush II Administration basically said, “Hey, guys, you’d better be aware of how these numbers work.” Where the official federal deficit in 2004 was reported at about $412 billion, and the GAAP-based deficit was around $616 billion, they said that if you added in the net present value of the underfunding of Social Security and Medicare, the one-year deficit in 2004 was $11.1 trillion. That’s trillion, not billion. That amounted to almost 100% of GDP at the time. Now, that $11 trillion included a one-time spike of about $8 trillion, to account for what Congress and the President did in setting up the Medicare drug benefit without funding it going forward. But you can see that if you back out that one- time charge, that on a GAAP basis, accounting for Social Security and Medicare, in 2003 the deficit was around $3.7 trillion; in 2004 it was $3.4 trillion; and in 2005 it was $3.5 trillion. We’ve had three years in a row here where the GAAP deficit has been basically $3.5 trillion. So the deficit and the total obligations of the federal government are increasing by roughly the amount of GDP every three years. In fact, the fiscal 2005 statement shows that total federal obligations at the end September were $51 trillion; over four times the level of GDP. It is unprecedented for a major country to have its actual obligations so far out of whack."
#4. To: All (#3)
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