Conservatively Speaking

Spending remains out of control

Posted by Mary Lazich on Oct. 12, 2010

Economy, State budget

Stunning news from the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper picked up on a huge story that was missed by most, if not all other media.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) unveiled preliminary figures for fiscal year 2010. The big spending machine in Washington is in full throttle.

The Wall Street Journal reports, “Spending rolled in for the year that ended September 30 at $3.45 trillion, second only to 2009's $3.52 trillion in the record books. What did Washington spend more money on? Well, despite two wars, defense spending rose by 4.7% to $667 billion, down from an annual average increase of 8% from 2005 to 2009. Once again domestic accounts far and away led the increases. Medicaid rose by 8.7%, and unemployment benefits by an astonishing 34.3%—to $160 billion. The costs of jobless insurance have tripled in two years."

CBO calculates that during the two-year period from 2008 through 2010, federal spending increased by a whopping 21.4 percent. From the Wall Street Journal:

“The 21.4% federal spending increase in two years ought to put to rest any debate about the nature of America's fiscal problem. The Pelosi Congress has used the recession as an excuse to send spending to record heights, and its economic policies have contributed to a lousy recovery. The solution is to stop the spending and change the policies.”

The same holds true for state government. The current 2009-11 state budget increased spending 9.4 percent according to the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance. And that was during a recession. I am pretty confident few households in Wisconsin have increased  their personal spending by almost 10%.

The Wall Street Journal’s solution for the nation’s capital should also be applied at the state Capitol:

“Stop the spending and change the policies.”