Government spending
How money is used, raised, and wasted in Washington As many Federal departments and agencies lurch into an era of running without funds, the leaders of both parties of Congress are spending less and less time searching for a compromise to balance the budget, and more and more time deciding how to use it to their advantage on the campaign trail. Meanwhile money is easily borrowed to pay for government overhead. In an attempt to change this, on June 29, Congress voted in favor of HConRes67 that called for a 7 year plan to balance the Federal Budget by the year 2002 (Hager 1899). This would be done by incorporating $894 billion in spending cuts by 2002, with a projected 7 year tax cut of $245 billion. If this plan were implemented, in the year 2002, the U.S. Government would have the first balanced budget since 1969. There is doubt by citizens that a balanced budget will become reality. A
For an estimated 39 million low-income people on Medicaid in 1996, the GOP plan cuts the program far more than Clinton's proposed $98 billion cut. This discretionary spending is the target for most cuts, and seems to be the easiest to make cuts in. He vowed to keep programs like education, crime prevention, and research or environmental grants, while increasing the Pell Grant from $2,340 to $2,700. 3 billion hike in corporate and wealthy-income taxes, and also in $2. Among largest cuts within Clinton's plan was the downsizing of 1/5 to 1/3 of all programs that he felt were not a priority to present day government. The center of attention for debate on budget cutting is politics, and whomever takes responsibility for reform gets left wide open to criticism. The top 1/5 income families would receive more than 60% of the tax relief. $500 billion of that, or 1/3 of the total, is for discretionary spending (Rau M-1). Sweden's plan was three times as intense as Congress' current plan, while cutting spending in half the time. Attention was also placed on discretionary spending, with Clinton cutting a smaller $297 billion compared to GOP's $394 billion cut. "The President is sitting on his hands while the federal debt keeps going up and up and up into the stratosphere," said Congressman Jesse Helms, Rep -North Carolina. At current rates, our government is about to reach its breaking point. Startling Facts about the budget: As of 1996, the national debt was at an all time high of $5 trillion dollars, with interest running at a whopping $250 billion per year (Rau M-1). 1 Million elderly voters on Medicare in 1996 (Rubin 1221).
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Acceptance Essays
