Why an Across the Board Spending Cut Makes Sense

 Yosemite Tent Cabins in Winter - photo by JoAnn Sturman

 

by Scott Sturman

Give a Congressman or Senator the chance to legislate behavior or morality and they’ll do it.   -----W.R. Priskna

Congressional approval rating averages about 10% give or take a few points depending on how incompetent the leadership has been at the time of the poll.  Since this lot and their colleagues in the press are so opposed to across the board spending cuts, then maybe it’s not such a bad idea.

Different ideas abound on how tax money should be spent.  John favors national defense and paying down the debt; Mary prefers Head Start and expanded Medicare benefits; Cletis’ sole passion is global warming and the development of alternative energy sources; Karen thinks more prisons should be built and health care free.  All are passionate and feel their preference is not only justified but morally correct.  In this polarized society there is no right answer other than keep the politicians away from the cookie jar. 


There is something to be said about mutual sacrifice in desperate times.  In World War II, for instance, the marginal federal tax rate was 90% and in order to support the war effort no private automobiles and few consumer goods were manufactured.  The country emerged stronger after tackling the problem together.  It is difficult to imagine this Congress and President formulating a cohesive plan which the country as a whole can support.  Instead, the middle class and upper middle class will shoulder the burden, while the poor pay no tax despite receiving benefits and the very rich are rewarded with tax loop holes and lucrative contracts sent their way via special connections.  It is hardly the type of governance which makes one feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Automatic spending cuts that affect all programs equally spread the sacrifice more evenly throughout society and prevent politicians and lobbyists from making deals and favoring one interest over another.  It is a more transparent solution and insulated from the corrupt legislative process fraught with seldom read riders and amendments, which have threatened the financial stability of the country. 

Anyone who considers the federal government an efficient utilizer of revenue is either naive or delusional.  There is so much waste, such a large cushion between the ideal and the actual, that with even a modest improvement in performance, these massive federal programs could be run on a lot less money with little change in the product delivered to the public.