Where are Your Tax Dollars Going?

Do you ever wonder where your tax dollars go? The Office of Manpower and Budget (OMB) uses accounting buckets to aggregate programs and spending. It calls large program groupings “Superfunctions”. The below chart clearly exposes that Superfunction monster. The blue line is the Superfunction named “Human Resources”, and it’s growing at an frightening rate.

US Federal Budget - Human Resources dwarfs the rest of the budget, including National Defense!

US Federal Budget – Human Resources dwarfs the rest of the budget, including National Defense!

The Human Resources Superfunction consists of a number of smaller program groupings called “Functions”. The Functions within it are:

  • Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services
  • Health (Including Obamacare)
  • Medicare
  • Income Security
  • Social Security
  • Veterans Benefits and Services

My next Blog will break out those Functions in another chart, to show the magnitude of each Function. If we are going to solve our unsustainable spending, we all need to understand where the money is going.

Note: The purple line, which is the Superfunction “Interest” (on the National Debt), is growing at nearly the same unsustainable rate as Human Resources.

Why Boehner’s Clever Tactic Is Bad Strategy

Tea Party Rally in Washington DC, 10 Sep 2013

Tea Party Rally in Washington DC, 10 Sep 2013

Speaker of the House John Boehner successfully maneuvered the CRAMNIBUS through the U.S. House. An argument could be made that it was a resounding tactical success. From a short-term perspective the speaker’s 1600-page bill funded most of the federal government through the end of September 2015. The House GOP leadership claims this is smart business because it allows them to focus on the Republican agenda when the new Congress is sworn in next month instead of having to go back and waste time and energy funding the government.

There’s no question that Boehner and the GOP establishment should soon have a majority in Congress within which to move their agenda. Tactical success, but will the CRAMNIBUS turn out to be a strategic blunder?

Americans gave the GOP a historic victory in November. Not a single Republican, including John Boehner, ran on a platform of furthering Barack Obama’s agenda. Even Democrats ran against Barack Obama and most attempted to distance themselves at every opportunity. The country is watching and they expect that the GOP is going to follow through with their campaign promises. The potential is very high that Boehner’s tactical victory with the CRAMNIBUS will disenfranchise GOP voters and convince them that they were duped. I’ve knocked on a lot of doors and I’ve heard a lot of people argue that there’s no difference between Democrats and Republicans. Unfortunately, Boehner’s proving them correct when he enlisted Barack Obama’s help to pass the CRAMNIBUS.

In addition, Republicans were elected to repeal Obama care. They were elected to stop what was known to be a pending constitution busting executive amnesty. The Republicans just completely funded Obama care and gave the President three months to institutionalize executive amnesty through CR funding for DHS. The excuses must stop. There can’t be any more cries from the GOP leadership that they don’t have enough votes in Congress, or that they don’t control the White House, or that they don’t have enough power to over ride a veto. These complaints ring hollow. The GOP will soon control both chambers in Congress. They’ll control the legislative body in Toto. We are all watching, and a failure now to live up to campaign promises will surely result in strategic failure in the 2016 election. For if Boehner proves that he’s as untrustworthy as he himself stated the President was, the good will shown the GOP will die. Failure in 2016 will doom the country to solidification of a big government, authoritarian, progressive Democrat agenda.

Speaking of Trustworthy!

Why Speaker Boehner Is Channeling Speaker Pelosi

rp_314110554_150_150.jpgNot a single Republican in the House or the Senate voted for the Obama care law. Outrage over the way that the bill was rammed through Congress, literally in the dark of night, and without time for any Senator or Congressman to read, let alone understand the bill continues unabated today.

Remember Nancy Pelosi’s infamous “we have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it’ quote? Now, on the eve of the GOP wresting control of the Senate from Harry Reid, the same disgusting tactic is underway to fund most of the federal government through the rest of fiscal year 2015. Known as the CROmnibus, as it consists of a Continuing Resolution (CR) to temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security, while using an Omnibus to fund the rest of the government. Since this is being foisted on America without time to read, let alone understand, I suggest that the bill should be called the CRAmnibus, as its being crammed down our throats, much like Obama care.

The GOP controlled House was certainly put in a very bad position. The House did a significant amount of work to pass individual funding bills, know as regular order, but Harry Reid did not reciprocate in the Senate. That was wrong! Forcing the CRAmnibus through is a second wrong, and although it sounds cliche, two wrongs don’t make a right!

Pass a two-month CR. Get the new GOP controlled Congress sworn in next month. Pass the individual bills through regular order, while defunding the President’s illegal amnesty, and begin dismantling Obama care. It’s why Americans elected Republicans in the midterms.

What’s The Right Path For GOP?

rp_P1030865-300x225.jpgThe right path for the new GOP majority in Congress is quite simple:

Govern for the next generation,

Not the next Election.

Do the former, and the latter will take care of itself!