Government Debt Simplified — Engage America video

It is easy for our eyes to glaze over when we hear politicians and pundits debate the size of the Federal Deficit and the Government’s Debt.  A $15 trillion anything is so big as to boggle the mind.

So, here it is in terms of a family budget.

• The family income is $23,000 a year.
• This year, the family plans to spend $36,000.
• That will increase its debt by $15,000.
• Not to worry, since this added borrowing comes on top of its existing outstanding debts of $153,000.
• In a moment of financial rectitude and sacrifice, the family agrees to reduce its spending by $230 — next year!

Such recklessness would undermine the family’s financial security.

When perpetrated by the Federal level, it is an attack on our liberty.

Categories:     Tags: Big Government, Budget Deficit, Economic Liberty, Engage America, Federal Spending

To Restore Prosperity, We Must Increase Economic Freedom — Charles Kadlec, Forbes.com

Economic freedom in the United States is in decline. The consequences include the worst recovery since the Great Depression and a growing fear of big government among a majority of independents and, shockingly, a near majority of Democrats.

Total government spending now exceeds 40% of GDP. Federal regulations now cost the private sector an astounding $1.7 trillion per year, or 12% of total output. That means that the governing elite now control more than 50% of the income produced by the American people to spend and distribute as they and lobbyists for powerful political and economic interests see fit.

As a result the U.S. has fallen to 10th place, its lowest rank on the Index of Economic Freedom, since the inception of the Index in 1995, down from fifth place in 2007. Moreover, the scheduled 2013 increase in tax rates and regulatory burdens means the U.S. is on course to drop to new lows in the years ahead. Read more

Categories:     Tags: Big Government, Charles Kadlec, Economic Liberty, Federal Spending, Index of Economic Freedom, Regulatory Burden

A Step Backward for Economic Freedom in 2012 — Edwin Feulner, Wall Street Journal

The world economy is in trouble, and governments are making things worse. Here’s the story, right out of the pages of the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom, published Thursday by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal:

“Rapid expansion of government, more than any market factor, appears to be responsible for flagging economic dynamism. Government spending has not only failed to arrest the economic crisis, but also—in many countries—seems to be prolonging it. The big-government approach has led to bloated public debt, turning an economic slowdown into a fiscal crisis with economic stagnation fueling long-term unemployment.”

Categories:     Tags: Big Government, Budget Deficit, Crony Capitalism, Economic Liberty, Edwin Feulner, Index of Economic Freedom

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans’ concerns about the threat of big government continue to dwarf those about big business and big labor, and by an even larger margin now than in March 2009. The 64% of Americans who say big government will be the biggest threat to the country is just one percentage point shy of the record high, while the 26% who say big business is down from the 32% recorded during the recession. Relatively few name big labor as the greatest threat.

Categories:     Tags: Big Government, Gallup