Four Trillion Reasons You Should Care

The federal government is on a trajectory to spend $4.1 trillion of your money this year.  The geyser of expenditures shatters another record for America.  Yet whenever talk turns to budget cuts, it triggers a volcanic eruption of outrage from special interests and the Washington political class.

Even a whisper of tampering with federal expenses churns up indignant protests. Any reduction will starve hungry children, sentence the poor to homeless shelters, deny medicine to the sick and force the elderly to eat dog food. It is a pathetically predictable response.  And it works every time.

But the truth is there are thousands of opportunities to trim the fat from the federal budget without harming kids, the poor, sick or seniors.  Your representatives in Washington know it. However, it is not the way the budget game is played.  More spending is always better for lawmakers.

The media is a willing accomplice in this theater of the absurd.  Every attempt to slice a tiny bit of waste is treated with headlines about the heartless actions of a few lawmakers who are out to punish a protected demographic group. The media shields unfettered spending through its biased reporting.

A simple illustration: The Congressional watchdog known as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) just published its 2018 annual report card on opportunities for eliminating waste and duplication.  The 120-page release packed with detailed figures was shunned by the media.

The extensive rundown chronicles more than 68 actions Congress and the executive branch can take to save billions.  But don't expect your representative to give a hoot.  The GAO has issued seven previous annual reports.  More than 40% of the recommendations have not been fully implemented.

In its most recent edition, the GAO highlights the fragmentation, overlap and duplication in the tangled web of federal agencies and departments that contributes to the waste.  As one example, the agency cites the 256 military Defense Distribution Centers scattered across the country.

These centers store and process goods for troop support, including everything from clothing to weapons.  By adopting a more efficient distribution system, the military could potentially reap a savings of $527 million over five years. Even in Washington, that's hardly chump change.

Defense is just one area ripe for reform.  The GAO also underscores ways to save millions in spending on agriculture, health, security, science, the environment and international affairs.  For instance, in education the agency uncovered massive duplication in the STEM program.

The federal program is designed to prepare students for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  Despite the admirable goal, the agency documented there are 163 programs and 13 different agencies involved in the effort.  The annual taxpayer tab for all this overlap is $2.9 billion.

The GAO isn't the only group that ferrets out wasteful spending.  Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit group dedicated to ending budget abuse, regularly exposes lawmakers' reckless spending on frivolous projects.

In its latest Pig Report, the organization spotlights the $10 million budget expenditure for high energy costs grants for Rural Utilities Service.  This program grew out of the depression in the 1930's and has met its original goal.  But Congress keeps funding it as a way to reward rural districts.

Another example is the $6 million price tag for the Delta Regional Authority, which provides economic development assistance to 252 counties in eight states.  It is duplicative of state, federal and local development projects, but it survives every year because the money goes to buy influence.

Those two projects are pikers compared to the $500 million cost of the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft for both the Navy and Marine Corps.  The program has been in development for nearly 16 years; it is six years behind schedule; and currently tips the scales at a hefty $170 billion over budget.

The GAO has consistently criticized the expenditures and noted that the lifetime operational and maintenance costs of these outlandishly expensive aircraft will total a whopping $1 trillion.  Despite the history of epic cost overruns, no one in Congress has succeeded in pulling the plug on funding.

There are a myriad of other illustrations of how lawmakers squander your tax dollars to purchase their reelection by kowtowing to special interests.  Those groups include environmentalists, weapons manufacturers, farm operators, the health industry and others who feed at the budget trough.

Nothing will ever change if the American public continues to be duped by the shrill voices of those who refuse to concede a single dollar in the federal budget.  The penalty for inaction is the incessant growth of the nation's debt, which now totals $19.8 trillion. Increased spending is unsustainable.

A good start would be ending the waste, duplication and outright fraud that vacuums up billions of tax dollars annually.  That savings would allow the budget to shrink without impacting critical programs.  Sounds like a good idea, right?  Then write your representative in Congress today.