Broken Promise #2: Spending

During his Presidential campaign in 2000, Bush said:

The last time taxes were this high as a percentage of our economy, there was a good reason; we were fighting World War II. Today our high taxes fund a surplus. Some say that growing federal surplus means Washington has more money to spend.

Fast-forward 8 years, when Harry Reid reminds us:

The Iraq War is costing us $5,000 per second

Think about this. How much a year do you give to the government in taxes? Unless you're a millionaire, chances are that in the time it took you to read this sentence, the Iraq War just spent ALL your tax dollars.

And not just spent. They borrowed it. We have to pay it back. Look at this graph of our budget deficits and the Presidents who administered them:

Wanna hear the scary part now? The Iraq War IS NOT included in the budget.

Our 2008 budget deficit is in the hundreds of millions. Our surplus from the Clinton era is long gone. This means that every year that goes by causes us to owe hundreds of millions more to the federal deficit which will soon eclipse 10 TRILLION DOLLARS. Wanna know what that means?

Take a look at how we allocate our spending each year:

See the big ticket items? Health and Human Services is Medicare and Medicaid. Very expensive, but at least it goes towards providing medical care to those who can't afford it. (Our elderly, disabled, poor and even our lower-middle class.) But check out the Treasury Dept costs.

THOSE ARE OUR INTEREST PAYMENTS WE PAY ON THE 10 TRILLION WE OWE!

Oh, and see the other big ticket item? The Department of Defense is the military budget. Here's a tip: When Republicans rail on discretionary spending such welfare spending and Medicare and Medicaid, remember this. Without Medicare, your grandma would die. Without Medicaid, your struggling cousin would be dead. Without welfare, many of our single moms would not be able to feed their children because their fathers ran out on them.

You know what else is considered discretionary spending by the government? The military. And guess what...they want to increase it. That's why spending never goes down despite all their promises. They just want to change what they spend the money on. Actually, spending has gone UP under President Bush!

BTW, McCain wants war with Iran. Guess what that's gonna cost?

Yup. Enjoy your stimulus check. It's your kids' money.
But