Perspective On The Budget Debate

Sometimes the most basic examples are the best.  This is one of them.  John Hinderaker posted an article at Power Line yesterday that puts the budget debate in terms that I can understand.

In the interest of science (of course), John went to McDonald’s and ordered a Big Mac Extra Value Meal.  He based his research on a Cato Institute report that commented on the ‘budget slashing’ Continuing Resolution recently passed:

“Federal spending has soared by more than $2,000,000,000,000 during the Bush-Obama years, pushing the burden of government up to $3,800,000,000,000, yet the reporters who put together this story said that an agreement to trim a trivially tiny slice of 2011 spending would “slash the budget.”

“As Charlie Brown would say, good grief. This is the budgetary equivalent of going on a diet by leaving a couple of french fries in the bottom of the bag after bingeing on three Big Mac meals at McDonald’s.”

John decided to follow up on this concept.  John Hinderaker concluded:

“,,,If there are 570 calories in a large order of fries, and 87 fries per order, each french fry, on the average, contains 6.5 calories. One 633rd of the total calorie content of a Big Mac Extra Value Meal is 1,320/633, or 2.1 calories. That equals almost exactly one-third of an average sized french fry.

“So, consider: if you were to go on what the Democrats consider a starvation diet, and “slash” your calorie intake to exactly the same degree that the Republicans’ $6 billion cut has “slashed” the federal budget, you would do the following. Go to McDonalds and order a Big Mac Extra Value meal. Eat the Big Mac. Drink the Coke. Eat 86 of the 87 french fries. Carefully take the last fry and bite off two-thirds of it. Put the remaining one-third of one fry back in the bag.

“If you seriously think that you have just “slashed” your diet, you are a Democrat. Most likely, an overweight Democrat.”

All this ruckus about budget cuts involves cuts that equal only one third of a french fry.  Good grief is right.