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The $1.5 trillion Omnibus Spending Bill, which Congress recently passed by Congress, is set to be signed by President Biden this week. Unfortunately this will mean more deficit spending, trillions less added to the national budget, wealth redistribution, increased power to bureaucrats and, worst, even more generational theft.
The federal government will generate $4.175 trillion of total revenue in FY 2022. The majority of this revenue (49 percent) will come from personal income taxes which are expected to account for $2.039 billion this year. Most of the remaining $2 trillion comes from corporate income tax and payroll taxes.
But that is only a fraction of the spending Washington, DC has planned for the next year. We can also expect $2 trillion more to go to national debt, with the federal government spending a little over $6 trillion.
To be fair, the majority of government spending goes to what many call “autopilot” programs. It refers to approximately $4 trillion Uncle Sam spends annually on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The spending on these programs will not change unless Congress acts.
However, Congress does have a responsibility. After all, Congress does allocate every penny of discretionary spending, which is set to increase to $1.5 trillion after Biden signs Congress’ latest omnibus spending bill.
Amazingly, Congress raised non-defense spending yet again. In previous years, Congress increased non defense spending typically by 1 to 2 percentage points. This year however, Congress decided that non-defense spending should be increased by an astounding 6.7 percent.
As Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) recently lamented, “Only if you think that going from like asking for 15 percent increases down to seven or eight is a big concession. And historically, we’ve never done more than two or three recently.”
Where is this huge rise in non-defense expenditures?
According to the Committee for a Responsible Budget, every single subcommittee in Congress will see a big budgetary increase due to the Congress’ latest spending bonanza. The Departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services, for example, will see a boost of $174 billion to 221 billion. Also, $9 billion will be added to the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. And this comes on top of the $1.1 trillion “infrastructure” law passed late last year.
All federal departments and agencies will be receiving at least $200 Billion more this year. It’s no surprise that the growth and expansion of federal government continues unabated.
But, this also means that future Americans will be footing the bill for today’s profligate spending. It could quickly get ugly, given the current trajectory of both the national and annual deficits.
Per the national debt clock, as of today, the “debt per citizen” stands at $91,101. At $241,661, the debt per taxpayer is at 241,661. But, within four years, this figure is expected to rise to $135,671 & $345 4,490.
This is a context. These numbers were in 2000 Only The respective amounts are $20,343 & $55,404.
For far too long, Congress (whether Democrats or Republicans were in charge) has been derelict in their duty of appropriately controlling the nation’s purse strings. For decades, we have been digging in this pit. However, if we don’t stop digging soon, we could all be buried under the insurmountable weight of an unsustainable national debt.
Chris Talgo ([email protected]) The Heartland Institute’s senior editor.
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