Big Spenders Dominate

Congressional leadershave agreed to a 2,232-page omnibus spending package that allocates federal discretionary spending for 2018. Defense and nondefense spending levels are jacked up, budget caps are blown through, and the deficit is soaring.You could say that the (nominally spendthrift) Democrats took the (nominally frugal) Republicans to the cleaners. But the real problem is that the great majority of members in both parties love federal spending. They think it unambiguously helps people; they are oblivious to constitutional federalism; they are willing to load more debt onto young people; and they have no idea about the negative consequences of government spending, such as the crowding out of private-sector activities.It is amazing how many liberal priorities are included in the omnibus, despite the Republicans having the White House and majorities in both chambers. The Democrats highlighted some of theirbig-spending wins here:Nondefense discretionary spending up $63 billion in 2018.More for Head Start.More for the child care and development block grant.More for K-12 subsidies.More for college subsidies.More for renewable energy subsidies.More for Amtrak subsidies.More for urban rail subsidies.More for community development subsidies.More for the EPA.More for public housing subsidies.Aside from these increases in traditionally liberal programs, there were spending increases on many other programs that are also not properly federal activities, such as state-local policing a...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs