How you can help on runaway spending
July 30, 2008 | By Nathaniel Ward
Congress is spending money like never before—on the “stimulus” giveaway, the housing bailout, entitlement spending, national security and more. And the federal government is expected to spend a record $490 billion more than it receives in taxes next year.
Our government’s spending problem is only going to get worse as tens of millions of Baby Boomers start retiring and collecting Social Security and Medicare benefits.
How bad is the spending problem? A child born today is liable for $175,000 in unfunded government benefits over his lifetime. This sort of spending is unsustainable.
That’s why The Heritage Foundation has committed itself to convincing lawmakers to rein in runaway spending on programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
When we started our ten-year Leadership for America campaign to get the nation back on track, Heritage recognized that lawmakers and ordinary Americans alike need to be made aware of the problem and the solution.
To achieve this goal, our budget experts and media specialists teamed up to produce A Legacy of Debt, a new 12-minute video on the spending problem.
You, too, can help get the word out by using the tools at ALegacyOfDebt.com.
Heritage experts are also participating in the Fiscal Wakeup Tour, designed to raise awareness about runaway spending. Our experts have participated in panels in 40 cities so far. Visit the Fiscal Wakeup Tour website for more on the program, plus handouts and presentations you can download and share.
Other Heritage work of note
- American Leadership. Speaking Tuesday at The Heritage Foundation, Taiwanese Speaker Wang Jin-pyng addressed the new government’s policies, in particular towards American relations and ties with China. He is the highest-ranking Taiwanese official permitted to visit Washington.
- Entrepreneurship. As they look to relieve congestion on crowded roads, governments at the local, state and national levels should take a close look at the effectiveness of their transportation policies, Heritage’s Ron Utt argues in a new analysis. A transportation performance audit like in Washington State, he writes, would allow taxpayers and government officials alike to better see how their money is being spent.
- Rule of Law. Testifying on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Heritage crime expert David Muhlhausen argued that fixed or “determinate” sentences should be continued for federal crimes. “First, long prison terms for serious crimes are just. Second, incapacitation and deterrence works. Third, determinate sentencing reduces disparity in sentencing by treating offenders equally.”
- Entrepreneurship. Heritage’s experts spend much of their time debunking liberal distortions. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) recently repeated several myths about taxes: that the Bush tax cuts impose a “cost” on government; that lowering tax rates amounts to a “giveaway”; and that raising taxes would cover the government’s spending binge on Medicare. Heritage economist J.D. Foster debunks these myths on Heritage’s blog, The Foundry.
In other news
- President Bush has approved a bill to use taxpayer money to bail out homeowners who made unwise investments and “rescue” two massive government-created financial institutions, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have suffered from poor management.
- Talks aimed at expanding global free enterprise by lifting government barriers to investment collapsed in Geneva.
- The Federal Communications Commission is expected to punish telecommunications firm Comcast for allowing faster access to certain types of online media over others. The agency seems to be moving to advance a big-government “net neutrality” agenda—which even the liberal Congress has failed to approve—under which Washington regulators ensure all content delivered over the Internet is given the same priority. This could have the effect of stifling innovation in the delivery of next-generation online video services, among other things.
- Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) has been indicted on seven counts, including failing to report gifts to investigators.
- A Bush administration report argues that state governments and private enterprise should play a greater role in transportation policy. The study says the federal government should roll back its gasoline taxes and instead give states more flexibility in raising their own funds.
- Responding to high gas prices, American drivers may drive less this year than last year. This would be the first year-on-year drop since 1980.
- Office fashion has sunk so far that the necktie manufacturers’ trade group is closing up shop, the Wall Street Journal reported last month. Just six percent of men wear ties to work every day, according to the Journal.
- In disturbing news from across the Atlantic, 3,000 blank British passports were stolen in England, the British Foreign Office reports.
- The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to apologize to black Americans and their ancestors for slavery. The AP notes that earlier attempts at such a resolution failed “over concerns that an apology would lead to demands for reparations.” Fortunately, lawmakers are soon to head out on their summer recess, so we should see less of this sort of thing.
Coming up at Heritage
To attend these or any other events at Heritage please RSVP at Heritage’s website. Or you can view these events live online. All times are Eastern.
- On Thursday, July 31 at 6:00 p.m., Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) joins Heritage for a celebration of Milton Friedman’s lifetime of achievements and a screening of The Ultimate Resource, a production of Free to Choose Media.
