If you’ve listened to 37 seconds of Rush Limbaugh then you’ve surely heard him criticize Barack Obama for being a socialist.
If you’ve watched 83 seconds of Fox News, you’ve certainly heard Republican politicians lambasting Barack Obama and other Democrats for expanding the size of government.
And yes, Barack Obama has absolutely increased the size of the federal government. In 2008 the federal government spent 2.983 trillion dollars. Just three years later in 2011, the federal government spent 3.603 trillion dollars.
That’s an increase of $620 billion dollars, or 20.8% in three short years.
So if Republicans like Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan believe that Barack Obama is destroying America by increasing federal spending to $3.603 trillion, surely they would have a budget proposal that would reduce federal spending back down around George Bush levels. Right?
Except the Paul Ryan Budget calls for spending of about $3.5 trillion in 2013 and just under $3.6 trillion in 2014.
Numbers Don’t Lie, but Moderate Republicans Do
Let me get this straight: Barack Obama is the most liberal president in the history of the United States of America for spending $3.6 trillion dollars in 2011, while at the same time Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney are true fiscal conservatives for wanting to spend $3.5 trillion dollars in 2013?
We aren’t that stupid.
There is a difference between liberalism and conservatism, and it’s not $0.1 trillion dollars.
The same Republicans that were clamoring for Cut, Cap and Balance (which would have included a constitutional amendment that would require the federal government to eliminate the deficit) have submitted a budget that still has a $384 billion dollar deficit in the year 2021 and NEVER eliminates the deficit.
It’s very simple: If Barack Obama is a fiscal liberal (which I doubt anyone disagrees with), then so are Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, and all the Republicans who support the Paul Ryan budget.
There is a True Fiscal Conservative Option
Forget Republican or Democrat. If you believe in fiscal responsibility then you have two options. One is a true socialist society where taxes are raised so outrageously high that tax revenues are brought up to meet current spending levels. Considering this is America, this is not a real option.
The other is Ron Paul. He has a Plan to Restore America that spends only $2.790 trillion in 2013 (less than what George W. Bush spent in 2007) and completely eliminates the deficit by 2015.
The only way to get our deficit and debt under control is to pass the Ron Paul budget or something very similar. Both the Republican and Democrat plans are just slight variations of the same exact liberal spending policies that are destined to destroy this country if they aren’t fixed.
Kevin McKee is an entrepreneur, IT guru, and personal finance leader. In addition to his writing, Kevin is the head of IT at Buildingstars, Co-Founder of Padmission, and organizer of Laravel STL. He is also the creator of www.contributetoopensource.com. When he’s not working, Kevin enjoys podcasting about movies and spending time with his wife and four children.
I grin when I hear people talking about the differences between our politicians (especially MSNBC, Fox News, Hannity, and Rush). I think political media is just a big business trying to sustain itself.
We really need to get a constitutional amendment that requires a balanced budget before they spend money. Stop the national debt from rising, frickin outrageous. This means an increase in taxes or cuts in spending, or a combination of both. We can’t keep spending like this, our future generation is going to be screwed, might be too late already though.
I agree wholeheartedly about the Ron Paul budget. So– What can we do?
I really can’t understand why everyone doesn’t vote for Ron Paul. It is the only logical choice.