Like many Americans I have been following the “debates” with interest. As anyone who reads the Angry Moderate knows I am already coming down on the Obama side of the discussion. But that does not mean I am closing my mind to the logic of each camps arguments. I am annoyed by the rhetoric and at this point will only reiterate the conventional wisdom that those that live in glass houses should not throw stones. But as usual I digress here at the beginning, so back to the argument. The two big debate points on the economy are revenues (taxes) and expenditures or more specifically earmarks (pork). I want to take up that second one in this piece.
I agree with most of the American public that earmarks as a concept are not a great idea. They are tagged on to bills that have nothing to do with the earmark and slip in as if they are skulking through the dark to sneak into your basement and lie in wait. And let’s face it, while the “Bridge to Nowhere” that was not built was a waste of tax payer money, it pales in comparison to the “Road to the Bridge to Nowhere” that WAS built despite having no bridge to feed. On the other hand there are no doubt earmarks that pay dividends well beyond the investment; ones for museums and parks come to mind. But put the debate on the value of this earmark or that aside and take as a given, for the purposes of this discussion, that we are better off without them. I want to take, as I am wont, a simplified and quick look at the US budget for one year. As the most relevant Fiscal Year (FY), 2008 (Oct 1, 2007 to Sep 30, 2008), is also just completed, I will use that budget year to illustrate the relative position of earmarks in our current financial climate. The numbers are rounded off, and no doubt there are some variations but I tried to use numbers that are easy to use for discussion that are still accurate, while being from easy sources to find.
Color By Number
To start with consider the funded US Budget for FY 2008. It amounted to $2.9 trillion ($2,900,000,000,000). It is hard number to get your head around so think of it as about $9,570 for every man, woman and child in the country (based on a population estimate for 2008 of around 303 million). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget,_2008)
Out of that budget earmarks amounted to approximately $16.5 billion ($16,500,000,000). Again, putting it another way, that is about $54.45 per person or just over ½ of 1 percent of each person’s obligation. (http://earmarks.omb.gov/2008_appropriations_home.html)
Now consider that the budget does not include all government expenditures. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are funded as supplemental above and beyond the budget. I would not be surprised if there are other supplemental appropriations to take into account but I will stick with those for simplicity (and again for ease of finding source material). The 2008 approved or allocated supplemental for Iraq and Afghanistan amounted to about $182.5 billion ($182,500,000,000). That cost comes to about $602.31 per person. (http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33110.pdf)
The total amount of revenue for FY 2008 was $2.66 trillion ($2,660,000,000,000) leaving a budget deficit of $240 billion ($240,000,000,000) or $792 of each of us. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget,_2008)
Stay on Target
But don’t forget the budget and therefore the budget deficit do not include those supplementals. So, a little quick math shows that a closer figure for the actual federal deficit for FY 2008 of $422.5 billion ($422,500,000,000) or about $1,394 for each US citizen.
This means the percentage of the total federal expenditures ($3.082 trillion) in FY 2008 taken up by “pork” ($16.5 billion) was almost exactly ½ of 1 percent. It would have reduced the deficit to $406 billion or to $1,340 for each of us.
So if you, like McCain, think that this is a focal point of fiscal responsibility in this election year you are, as the adage goes, “Penny wise and pound foolish.” (And don’t EVEN get me started about the nearly $1 trillion we have already obligated to the financial bailout)
-ARC
No comments:
Post a Comment