Federal Budget in a Speech

Federal Budget

In a speech given before Congress in February, 2010, Senator Judd Gregg states that both Republican and Democrat Senators "acknowledge that our country is on an unsustainable path (and that) next to terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, the single biggest threat that we face as a Nation is the fact that we're on a course toward fiscal insolvency" (Gregg, 2010, p. 48). The primary purpose behind Senator Gregg's words that day was an attempt to overcome the bipartisan infighting concerning the national budget. He was correct in his statement, the assumption that if something is not done soon looms even truer today than it did just slightly less than two short years ago when he made that statement.

The political shenanigans present in the budget process that prompted Gregg's statements are at the heart of what's wrong with the budget process that takes place every year on Capital Hill. Senators and Representatives alike seem to enjoy pulling money out of thin air to pay for pet projects of limited worth. Billions of dollars a year are wasted on programs and services that can be called boondoggle at best, and downright criminal at worst.

Many experts believe that it is politics and the gamesmanship of many politicians that is the biggest problem with the budget process. Newspaper headlines will often scream of the latest political tactics employed by both sides of the aisle. This type of scenario does not often lead to a concerted and cooperative effort to balance the budget; and one report states that "politicizing this process could ultimately challenge human health, technology, and economic growth" (Epstein, 2011, p. 3362). Yet the politics continue even as the budget deficit continues to spiral out of control.

Another big problem with the budget process is that there is so much waste taking place that many times the dollars spent cannot be tracked in any efficient manner. Such waste is not a new phenomenon, it has happening for years and decades. As an example; according to government investigators "FEMA has let nearly 11,000 unused manufactured homes deteriorate on old runways and open fields in Arkansas, and the agency spent $416,000 per person to house a few hundred Hurricane Katrina evacuees for a short time in Alabama" (Hall, 2006). 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.