Category Archives: Politics

The $98.8 trillion hole

Debt and deficits, Politics, U.S. Congress

tax, taxes, debt, deficits, spending, trillion, State of the Union, deficit hawks, balanced budget amendment, Jonathan Bydlak, immigration, $98.8 triillionBy Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

A report last week offered two insights on the nation’s fiscal future: How big a hole we’re digging, and what it would take to stop.

Let’s start with the hole – one that will be $98.8 trillion deep only 30 years from now. That’s how big the government’s debt held by the public is projected to be by 2048, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO is the nonpartisan government agency that advises Congress regarding fiscal matters.

That “debt held by the public” figure refers to debt borrowed from others. It’s currently $15.45 trillion. The total national debt – $21.1 trillion at the moment – includes that figure plus the money the government has borrowed from itself.

How big are these numbers? The country’s population is about 328 million. Dividing that into $21.1 trillion equals about $66,000 for each American. Both numbers will rise unless something happens to make them stop.

Continue reading The $98.8 trillion hole →

Budget balancing in my house, and the House

Debt and deficits, Politics, U.S. Congress
Steve Womack
Rep. Steve Womack is chair of the House Budget Committee.

By Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Balancing a budget is hard. I know, because that’s my job in my household. So I can empathize with U.S. Rep. Steve Womack.

Here are some things I’ve found to be true after spending countless hours crunching our family’s numbers.

– Much of your spending is difficult to cut. Your house payment, insurance, taxes, and many bills are almost set in stone. Such “mandatory spending” can consume the majority of your income.

– You can cut your “discretionary spending,” but it’s not easy. Spending less on groceries requires constant vigilance and an altered lifestyle. Also, discretionary spending includes nice-to-have “extras” that provide many benefits at relatively low cost, like subscriptions and community center memberships. Church and charitable giving are discretionary as well. Cut those?

– Because the above options are hard, you might tell yourself you can reduce “waste” and not have to change your lifestyle. That’s wishful thinking. Continue reading Budget balancing in my house, and the House →

On immigration, are we more mature than first-graders?

Politics, U.S. Congress

tax, taxes, debt, deficits, spending, trillion, State of the Union, deficit hawks, balanced budget amendment, Jonathan Bydlak, immigrationBy Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Let’s say your family and another are getting together for a Friday evening dinner. You both have first-graders.

The parents are preparing the meal when the children enter the kitchen. Your child wants to play with dolls. Their child wants to play a game. They both want their way.

The best response is for the adults to guide the children toward an agreement. Perhaps they could take turns with the dolls and game, or maybe find an acceptable third choice. If one child refused to compromise and demanded his or her own way, he or she would face a consequence.

We teach our children that life is about give and take, but then we approach national politics like it’s a zero sum game. If you can’t have all you want, then no one should get anything they want, including you. When your side is right and the other is evil, then gridlock is preferable to compromise.

No other issue illustrates this better than illegal immigration, which this week eclipsed all others because now we’re confronted with kids being warehoused temporarily in cages. Continue reading On immigration, are we more mature than first-graders? →

The 3 percent rules

Legislature, Politics, State government

Arkansas Legislature, Arkansas Works, Jeremy HutchinsonBy Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

“Ninety-nine percent of this body are good, honest people,” said Sen. Bill Sample, R-Hot Springs, and I think his estimate is not far-fetched. But only 97 percent of the members of the 2013-14 Arkansas Legislature are not going to prison, and that percentage could shrink before all is said and done.

Sample, who was quoted in the Democrat-Gazette, was responding to the latest news to come from federal authorities’ corruption investigation. In federal court June 7, lobbyist Rusty Cranford pleaded guilty to bribery charges regarding two former legislators who themselves have pleaded or been found guilty, former Sens. Jon Woods, R-Springdale, and Hank Wilkins, D-Pine Bluff.

Those two are awaiting sentencing along with two others from that 2013-14 session, former Sen. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith, and former Rep. Micah Neal, R-Springdale. A fifth ex-legislator, Rep. Eddie Cooper, D-Melbourne, who served from 2005 to the beginning of 2011, has also pleaded guilty to financial wrongdoings. All of it is related to the state’s General Improvement Fund, a grant program directing state dollars to specific local projects at the behest of individual legislators.

None of that is news. The news was that Cranford told the court that another legislator had accepted $500,000 in bribes.  Continue reading The 3 percent rules →