Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Federal Government Spending: 1900 To The Present

In my previous article, I discussed how the deficits in the federal budget substantially increased after President Nixon abandoned the gold standard in 1971. This opened the door to a new paradigm where Congress could spend as much as it desired. Give a man an inch and he’ll take a mile. Perhaps it should be said, give Congress an open checkbook and it’ll spend hundreds of billions more than it collects. In this article, we will take an look at the problem of spending by those we have elected to represent us in Washington. Are they doing a good job representing us?
Pass the Credit Please
When your teenager comes asking for money for a date, it is unlikely that most parents would simply hand over their wallet and say, “Help yourself.” Yet, that is precisely what we do with Congress. When Congress reaches its credit limit, members simply vote to raise the debt ceiling. This has occurred at least 90 times in the twentieth century. “Please give us more credit so we can carry on the business of the country,” they muse.

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