December 27, 2005

SO MUCH FOR THE BIG SPENDER LABEL:

THE BIG THREE BUDGET EATERS (NY Post, December 27, 2005)

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid consumed nearly half of all federal spending in 2004, and budget analysts expect them to account for an even bigger share in the future.
They accounted for more than $1 trillion in the 2004 budget year, says the Consolidated Federal Funds Report released today by the Census Bureau.

Overall federal spending was $2.2 trillion, an increase of 5 percent from 2003,

This was a slightly smaller increase than in recent years, said Gerard Keffer, chief of the bureau's federal programs branch.


Conservatives sit around telling themselves that the size of government is a function of George Bush's irresposible discretionary spending.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 27, 2005 4:44 PM
Comments

Ask your buddy Bill Frist about it.
If I can give one credit the Bush administration, I would say that it hasn't slashed certain areas of government spending (caring for those who are unable to care for themselves) that one would normally expect from a Republican administration. But I'd expect this is due to the increasing power of influence of the hospital, drug, and other medical related lobbies.

Posted by: Grog at December 27, 2005 6:53 PM

Conservatives sit around telling themselves . .

No. This conservative sits around telling libertarians (many of whom are liberals in disguise) that most spending is on social program autopilot. Also sit around telling the few conservatives not aware of the situation that this is becaue the vast majority of people like it.. Those who are 50-65 want government to pick up their parent's bills. Factor in the parents and you have a supermajority no politician can buck.

Posted by: David at December 27, 2005 7:05 PM

Grog, what was the last administration, Republican or Democratic, to actually cut social welfare spending?

Posted by: joe shropshire at December 27, 2005 7:08 PM

Joe: Total spending, I don't know; where and how it is spent, and how it matches the changing demographical needs, has varied much in the past few decades.

Posted by: Grog at December 27, 2005 8:14 PM
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