Ending wasteful and excessive spending begins and ends with holding politicians accountable. Members of Congress cannot claim to be fiscally responsible while continuing to spend money they don’t have or pushing the problem into the future (i.e. next election cycle). Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Congress needs to change what it is doing or the fiscal insanity threatens to overwhelm the budget and smother the economy.
Below are some facts and talking points to use when asking your representative or senator to stand up to the abusive and wasteful practice of excessive spending.
• Total federal spending has increased 85.6% from 2001 to 2010 ($1.862 trillion to $3.456 trillion) while “income” has only increased by 8.6% ($1,991 trillion to $2,163 trillion).
• The annual deficit has worsened as a percentage of GDP from -1.3% in 2001 to 8.9% in 2010.
• As a percentage of total “income”, in 2001, 49.9% came from individual income taxes and 7.6% from corporate income taxes. In 2010, 41.5% came from individual income taxes while 8.9% came from corporate income taxes.
• The annual federal debt has increased 134.5% from $5.8 trillion in 2001 to $13.5 trillion in 2010. It currently stands at almost $14.4 trillion or $47 billion/per person