B
Bruzilla
Guest
My Congressman, Cliff Stearns, sent out a nice informative pamplet called a 2005 Budget Report to me (and all the voters of the 6th District), and it's a pretty nice breakdown of the budget that's been distilled for the average schlub taxpayer (me) to understand. What I really liked about it is that it shows where all the money comes from instead of just where's it's going, and this pamplet raised some questions with me.
First, for 2005, it says that "over half of the Federal budget goes toward mandatory spending over which Congress has little control" and "...40 percent of the Federal budget goes towards discretionary spending that Congress votes on each year." I always thought that Congress allocates every dollar that goes out of the government, so what is mandatory spending that Congress has no control over? Isn't that spending that's been voted on once before and could be cancelled by an act of Congress?
Second, in looking at revenues, Individual Income Taxes account for 43% of all revenues, Social Security taxes cover 39%, and Corporate Income taxes account for only 10.1% I found that very surprising, even recognizing that small business people are reporting corporate taxes as individual, and that most of the social security taxes are paid by employers. RR, if you're reading this, please get me a ticket on the Democrat Corporate Welfare bus... I'm ready to believe now!
Lastly, Federal spending on education has increased, get this, 100% since the 2001 budget! How in the Hell can anyone say we're not spending enough on education? Based on the return on investment we've seen so far we either need to divert every federal dollar to education or realize that we're spending wayyyyy toooooo much money.
First, for 2005, it says that "over half of the Federal budget goes toward mandatory spending over which Congress has little control" and "...40 percent of the Federal budget goes towards discretionary spending that Congress votes on each year." I always thought that Congress allocates every dollar that goes out of the government, so what is mandatory spending that Congress has no control over? Isn't that spending that's been voted on once before and could be cancelled by an act of Congress?
Second, in looking at revenues, Individual Income Taxes account for 43% of all revenues, Social Security taxes cover 39%, and Corporate Income taxes account for only 10.1% I found that very surprising, even recognizing that small business people are reporting corporate taxes as individual, and that most of the social security taxes are paid by employers. RR, if you're reading this, please get me a ticket on the Democrat Corporate Welfare bus... I'm ready to believe now!
Lastly, Federal spending on education has increased, get this, 100% since the 2001 budget! How in the Hell can anyone say we're not spending enough on education? Based on the return on investment we've seen so far we either need to divert every federal dollar to education or realize that we're spending wayyyyy toooooo much money.
