Considering the enormity of this one example ($416,000 per person?) and considering that it is just one of many examples to be found in wasteful dollars, one could easily state that the budget process is out of control. Even when politics are set aside the process of determining a budget for a country as big and diverse as the United States is a difficult venture. Recently a panel of politicians comprised of both Republicans and Democrats was charged with the responsibility of finding areas in which cuts could be made in order to trim the budget and the huge deficit that has been building over the last several years. As this panel of 12 individuals convened its deliberations on how to make trillions of dollars in cuts many experts believed that it could not fail; doing so according to some would be a calamity. One report questioned "what message does it send to the electorate that not only could Congress not responsibly address its duties, but even a sub-group with specific tasks can fail miserably?" (Williams, 2011, p. 13). The...

13) and it ended with the statement "our worst fears would be confirmed" (p. 13).
Interestingly enough, the committee did fail in its duties, members of the committee pointing fingers at each other in blame. Our worst fears are indeed confirmed. The Right and the Left are both so enamored with their own views of what should and should not be paid for that they failed even to make basic recommendations as to what services need to be cut and what programs need to be pared or terminated.

References

Epstein, J.A.; (2011) Politicizing NIH funding: A bridge to nowhere, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Vol. 121, Issue 9, pp. 3362-3363

Gregg, J.; (2010) Budget speech given before Congress, February 2010, Congressional Digest, pp. 46 -- 54

Hall, M.; (2006) Senators hear 'shocking examples' of tax dollars wasted by FEMA, USA Today, 02/14/2006

Williams, A.; (2011) Why the…