Some Odds And Ends About The Debt Ceiling Debate

This is going to be a rather disjointed article about two separate aspects of the budget ceiling debate.

The first link is to an article at the American Thinker about how the government actually spends its money.  The article gives examples of things that the government could skip paying in order to fund Social Security and veterans (Obama has threatened to delay those checks if the debt ceiling is not raised).  These are some of the items:

ObamaCare                                                                       $1.5 trillion

Planned Parenthood (annually)                                        $330 million

Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac                                                 $145 billion

Amtrak                                                                              $1.9 billion

Unspent Stimulus/ War Chest                                           $60 billion

National Endowment for the Arts                                   $133 million

National Endowment for the Humanities                        $140 million

The Post Office                                                                 $1.0 billion

Vacant Federal Properties                                               $25.0 billion

Medicare Fraud                                                               $47.0 billion

National Broadband Coverage Map                             $350.0 million

Federal Employee Flight Upgrades                              $146.0 million

Beach Re-sanding                                                              $3.0 billion

Payments Not to Use Land (conservation)                      $2.0 billion

International Abortions/Population Control               $650.0 million

Libya Kinetic Military Action                                    $750.0 million

Consumer Protection Bureau                                      $329.0 million

United Nations                                                                $6.4 billion

NPR/Corporation for Public Broadcasting                 $451.0 million

Renewable Energy Tax Credits (mostly wind)                $6.9 billion

Tax Credits to IRS employees/Others                        $513.0 million

Federal Weatherization Programs                                    $5.0 billion

99 Week Unemployment Benefits                              $100.0 billion

Total                                                                       $1.9 - 2.0 trillion

It seems to me that there are a few things here that might be closely examined with the idea of saving money.  Anyway, these are some of the places your tax money goes.

The second part of this article has to do with telling the truth.  This is a very simple example of why all of us need to be paying attention to the current debate. 

The Hill reported today that:

"Obama said, citing "poll after poll" showing Republican voters, as well as Democrats, believe in taking "a balanced approach" -- including both increased revenues and spending cuts in a plan to cut the deficit."

Rasmussen Reports reported yesterday that:

"Just 34% think a tax hike should be included in any legislation to raise the debt ceiling. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 55% disagree and say it should not."

At least most of the American people understand that the problem is the spending--not the lack of revenue.  It is unfortunate that the President is either not aware of that or is lying about it.