You've heard that our President has submitted his budget proposal for the coming year. $3,728,686,000,000. That number is so big, who could comprehend it? Try this: Your share is $11,892. Get enough money out of one of your board games to represent your yearly gross income and put it on a table. Then divide it into two stacks: (1) Your share (or your family's -- multiply $11,892 by your family size) of federal government spending and (2) what's left. Your job with each stack:
Stack 1: Decide how much each government department or function should get from you.
Stack 2: Decide how you will personally pay rent, eat, etc. on what is left after the federal government gets its share of your income in stack 1. Oh, and don't forget, you also have to pay your share of state and local government expenses out of that second stack -- they aren't included in stack 1.
Perhaps this will illustrate on a personal level how massive our government has become, and its impact on you.
Here's a summary of what our government wants to do with your $11,892. I would be very interested to hear what your priorities with your money are, by all means share your comments below:
National Defense........................................................................ $ 2,352.35 per person
International Affairs.................................................................... $ 200.94
General Science, Space & Technology....................................... $ 102.97
Energy..................................................................................... $ 74.67
National Resources & Environment............................................. $ 136.20
Agriculture................................................................................ $ 60.37
Commerce & Housing Credit...................................................... $ 75.34
Transportation........................................................................... $ 334.43
Community & Regional Development........................................... $ 81.97
Education, Training, Employment, & Social Services.................... $ 338.63
Health....................................................................................... $1,192.14 Medicare................................................................................. $ 1,570.23
Income Security (Unemployment, Housing & Food Assistance,
Federal Employee Retirement Costs).............................. $ 1,768.02
Social Security........................................................................ $ 2,446.38
Veterans Benefits & Services.................................................... $ 397.60
Administration of Justice.......................................................... $ 187.21
General Government............................................................... $ 99.35
Net Interest (Amount paid on debt less amount collected).......... $ 770.57
Allowances............................................................................ $ 20.94
Undistributed Offsetting Receipts.......................................... (minus) 317.79
Total...................................................................................... $11,892.52 per person
A note about net interest. The $770.57 per person figure is equivalent to a little less than 2% yearly interest on our official national debt. As government bonds and debts mature in the future and are in essence refinanced, every 1% increase in interest will cost every person over $400 per year additional -- assuming no further increases in the amount of debt. Since debt is going up, the actual increase will be larger. Perhaps you would like to voluntarily pay more than your $11,892 share, with the extra earmarked to help pay off this debt so that future interest expense can be reduced. If you choose to do this, the Treasury Department will graciously allow you to claim a charitable contribution deduction on your income tax return.
It is claimed that there are $1 trillion in cuts over the next 10 years in this budget proposal. That would average $100 billion per year, or less than 3% of the budget. It turns out to only be a cut from an even higher budget desire, not in the budget itself. Yes, the 2012 proposal is $90 billion less than the 2011 proposal. And the 2013 proposal is $48 billion less. In those two years the decreases totals $138 billion. But that's where any decreases end, no where close to $1 trillion.
Starting in 2014 there are proposed increases not decreases, beginning with $159 billion that year, $371 billion in 2015, and it grows more rapidly after that. It is more than you, me, or any of us can afford now. So how are we going to pay for these proposed increases (that are called decreases)?
I respectfully suggest to you that you look this over carefully and decide if you're in favor of this budget proposal as is, or if there are changes you would like to propose to your President, Senators, and House Representative. If you are silent, others will decide for you and you will still pick up your share of the tab. Of course, you will not pay it all in taxes, at least not right away. None of us will. We will borrow a substantial portion of it, and pay for it later plus interest. Perhaps some of it will be paid with newly created money. Sooner or later, that will cause inflation, which has its own set of costs.
Even if you don't think you'll have to pay, one way or another you will. So I encourage you to get involved in the process and let your elected representatives know what you want them to include in the budget, and what you don't. Thank you for reading this, for sharing it with others, and for your comments. I appreciate it!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's a summary of what our government wants to do with your $11,892. I would be very interested to hear what your priorities with your money are, by all means share your comments below:
National Defense........................................................................ $ 2,352.35 per person
International Affairs.................................................................... $ 200.94
General Science, Space & Technology....................................... $ 102.97
Energy..................................................................................... $ 74.67
National Resources & Environment............................................. $ 136.20
Agriculture................................................................................ $ 60.37
Commerce & Housing Credit...................................................... $ 75.34
Transportation........................................................................... $ 334.43
Community & Regional Development........................................... $ 81.97
Education, Training, Employment, & Social Services.................... $ 338.63
Health....................................................................................... $1,192.14 Medicare................................................................................. $ 1,570.23
Income Security (Unemployment, Housing & Food Assistance,
Federal Employee Retirement Costs).............................. $ 1,768.02
Social Security........................................................................ $ 2,446.38
Veterans Benefits & Services.................................................... $ 397.60
Administration of Justice.......................................................... $ 187.21
General Government............................................................... $ 99.35
Net Interest (Amount paid on debt less amount collected).......... $ 770.57
Allowances............................................................................ $ 20.94
Undistributed Offsetting Receipts.......................................... (minus) 317.79
Total...................................................................................... $11,892.52 per person
A note about net interest. The $770.57 per person figure is equivalent to a little less than 2% yearly interest on our official national debt. As government bonds and debts mature in the future and are in essence refinanced, every 1% increase in interest will cost every person over $400 per year additional -- assuming no further increases in the amount of debt. Since debt is going up, the actual increase will be larger. Perhaps you would like to voluntarily pay more than your $11,892 share, with the extra earmarked to help pay off this debt so that future interest expense can be reduced. If you choose to do this, the Treasury Department will graciously allow you to claim a charitable contribution deduction on your income tax return.
It is claimed that there are $1 trillion in cuts over the next 10 years in this budget proposal. That would average $100 billion per year, or less than 3% of the budget. It turns out to only be a cut from an even higher budget desire, not in the budget itself. Yes, the 2012 proposal is $90 billion less than the 2011 proposal. And the 2013 proposal is $48 billion less. In those two years the decreases totals $138 billion. But that's where any decreases end, no where close to $1 trillion.
Starting in 2014 there are proposed increases not decreases, beginning with $159 billion that year, $371 billion in 2015, and it grows more rapidly after that. It is more than you, me, or any of us can afford now. So how are we going to pay for these proposed increases (that are called decreases)?
I respectfully suggest to you that you look this over carefully and decide if you're in favor of this budget proposal as is, or if there are changes you would like to propose to your President, Senators, and House Representative. If you are silent, others will decide for you and you will still pick up your share of the tab. Of course, you will not pay it all in taxes, at least not right away. None of us will. We will borrow a substantial portion of it, and pay for it later plus interest. Perhaps some of it will be paid with newly created money. Sooner or later, that will cause inflation, which has its own set of costs.
Even if you don't think you'll have to pay, one way or another you will. So I encourage you to get involved in the process and let your elected representatives know what you want them to include in the budget, and what you don't. Thank you for reading this, for sharing it with others, and for your comments. I appreciate it!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Photo Credit: Picture 21, captioned "Not too much info here. A woman posed with stack of packages of $1 silver certificates at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Washington, D.C. [between ca. 1950 and ca. 1969]", from http://www.delraycc.com/InterestingMoney/AmazingPicturesOfMoney/tabid/210/Default.aspx
This website states that this picture was taken from the public domain.
Source Data: "Total Outlays" listed on line 2883 of Table 32-1, a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel format found at the bottom of the list at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Analytical_Perspectives. The other figures quoted above come from department/function subtotals within this same Table 32-1. Per person figures are derived by dividing total amounts by population.
Total U.S. Population as of February 15, 2011, at 9:55 am "universal" time was 310,823,190 (see http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html) and growing at the rate of 23 people every 5 minutes. This projects out to about 313,532,000 on April 1, 2012, the midpoint of the fiscal year covered by this budget.
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