Is Washington Really Spending Too Much Money? Look Again!

Republicans have been filling the air waves lately with the old line that 'Washington is spending too much money.' With this worn out slogan, they are rallying the angry and the ignorant to protests, tea-bagging and support of their right-wing agenda. The undereducated have bought into this war cry without much checking of facts. After all, 'government' takes their money at tax time, so 'government' must be bad. But does Washington really spend too much? Let's take a look.

On April 20, 2009, the President held his first cabinet meeting. Among the issues discussed was a very important one: How to streamline government activities to save the taxpayer money. Individual agencies have already saved millions of American tax dollars by reducing spending and consolidating activities, but the President is asking for more spending cuts. He outlined in his address to the cabinet areas where unnecessary spending can be eliminated in the administrative sector and by eliminating programs that are no longer viable. His slogan to save '$100 Million there, $100 Million here' might just catch on even outside government offices.

So if the federal government is cutting spending so drastically, why are right wing Republicans tooting their horns so loudly? Well, for one, it catches on and causes hard-working Americans to question what happens to their tax money. That's a good thing, really, but we have to stop and ask whose money is most affected by the Obama administration to understand the driving force behind the war cry.

If President Obama has his way with congress, our highest earners will see a slight increase in their tax load, while most of us average wages earners will see our burden lightened. That sounds terrific to me, but rich folks don't like to let go of a dime if they don't have to and under the Bush administration, they didn't have to. Most of us have no inkling of what it costs to run a government. The numbers the administration juggles seem outrageous, because we don't understand the proportions. The wealthy, who are protecting their own fortunes, are taking advantage of our ignorance when they get us to do their protesting for them.

President Obama, true to his promise of openness, has authorized the release of a breakdown of government spending cuts, so we can see for ourselves that change has truly come to Washington. We can't let the wealthiest Americans cloud our vision or fill our ears with old slogans and vague blanket statements. Not now, when we have an opportunity to check the facts. So let's check them before we toot other peoples' horns.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Background-on-President-Obamas-Meeting-with-Cabinet/