Re: Congress Must Reject the Welfare/Warfare State

They all do this so much,.....

"The $99 billion figure merely represents the amount that HR 1 reduces
spending from the President's proposed Fiscal Year 2011 budget - not
reductions in actual spending.  "

Cuts that are not real cuts....maddening.

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of david white
Sent: Monday, February 28, 2011 1:30 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [DADL-OT] Congress Must Reject the Welfare/Warfare State

http://paul.house.gov/index.php?
option=com_content&view=article&id=1832:congress-must-reject-the-
welfarewarfare-state&catid=62:texas-straight-talk&Itemid=69

Congress Must Reject the Welfare/Warfare State        

During the past few weeks, Congress has been locked in a battle to pass a
continuing resolution to fund government operations through September.  Both
supporters and opponents of the bill, HR 1, claim it is a serious attempt to
reduce federal spending.  However, an examination of the details of the bill
call that claim into question.  For one thing, the oft-cited assertion that
HR 1 reduces spending by $99 billion is misleading.  The $99 billion figure
merely represents the amount that HR 1 reduces spending from the President's
proposed Fiscal Year 2011 budget - not reductions in actual spending.
Trying to claim credit for a reduction in spending based on cuts in proposed
spending is like claiming someone is following a diet because he had only
five slices of pizza when he intended to have 10 slices!

In fact, HR 1 only reduces real federal spending by $66 billion compared to
last year's budget.  This may seem like a lot to the average American but in
the context of an overwhelming trillion-dollar budget and a national debt
that could exceed 100 percent of GNP in September, it is barely a drop in
the bucket.  

One reason that HR 1 does not cut spending enough is that too many fiscal
conservatives continue to embrace the fallacy that we can balance the budget
without reducing spending on militarism.  Until Congress realizes the folly
of spending trillions pretending to impose democracy on the world we will
never be able to seriously reduce spending. 

Congress must not only reject the warfare state, it must also reject the
welfare state.  HR 1 is more aggressive in ending domestic spending than
foreign spending, and does zero out some objectionable federal programs such
as AmeriCorps.  However, HR 1 leaves most of the current functions of the
federal government undisturbed.  This bill thus continues the delusion that
we can have a fiscally responsible and efficient welfare state.

The failure to even attempt to address the serious threat the
welfare-warfare state poses to American liberty and prosperity is the main
reason why supporters of limited government and individual liberty
ultimately should find HR 1 unsatisfactory.  Only a rejection of the view
that Congress can run the economy, run our lives, and run the world will
allow us to make the spending reductions necessary to avert a serious
financial crisis.  This does not mean we should not prioritize and discuss
how to gradually transition away from the welfare state in a manner that
does not harm those currently relying on these programs.  However, we must
go beyond balancing the budget to transitioning back to a free society, and
that means eventually placing responsibility for social welfare back in the
hands of individuals and private institutions.  

Despite the overheated rhetoric heard during the debate, HR 1 is a diversion
from the difficult task of restoring constitutional government and a free
economy and society.  It is time for Congress to get serious about cutting
spending, not merely tinkering around the edges of the proposed budget and
kicking the can down the road for future generations.  If we fail to act
decisively now, there will soon come a time when both our money and our
capacity to borrow will run out.  When that happens, our ability to
negotiate and play political games with spending priorities will be over.
To avoid real chaos, the time to start dealing with our bloated government
budget is right now.

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