Reigning in Congressional Spending

In my last blog I discussed the importance of budgeting. The simple skill can keep your costs and income levels in check, and can help you manage your finances with impeccable accuracy, and with as little guesswork as possible. Under this framework, you treat your finances like a business – as long as you come out positive after all costs and factored out of your income, there will be money left over.

However, one organization that is not confined to this framework is the federal government. No matter who is in control of Congress, be it Republicans or Democrats, most recent administrations have thrown the basic principle of fiscal responsibility out the window. The federal government is not run like a business, and is not confined to basic financial principles. As a result, Congresses have the ability to spend at will without short term fiscal consequences. There are many long term consequences, though, including the recent housing bubble.

Because Congress’ main source of income is directly from the American people, the country deserves better financial standards of its legislators. As other countries such as China benefit from America’s fiscal irresponsibility, America’s currency slowly gets devalued. A balanced budget should be backed up by the force of law in this country. Congress owes that to the American people.

Such a law has circulated throughout Congresses for decades, but has never come to fruition. If this kind of amendment were to pass, Congress would be forced to reign in spending on inefficient programs, and might even be forced to come to a solution on constant fiscal problems, such as Social Security and Medicare. Ultimately, it would force Congress to keep track of its spending, which in the end is a huge determining factor of the value of American dollars. Such a law might even make politicians be more careful about their campaign promises, but nobody’s holding their breath on that one.

The ability to budget should not be underestimated. The economy is a complicated system that cannot be predicted. To stay on its good side and avoid any other economic downturns, the best thing anyone can do is keep a close eye on their budgets – and that goes for our federal government too.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Chris Buchheit

Chris Buchheit was born under the hot Floridian sun during some year in the 1980s. There he studied school matters until moving to North Carolina in 1999. Possibly due to the fact that his mom had enough of him being inside all the time, he quickly got involved in community affairs via the Boy Scouts of America, where he learned the values of citizenship, morality, duty to God and country, and that the biggest kids get to boss around the smaller ones. Chris attained the rank of Eagle Scout in 2004, and still values the rank as one of his proudest achievements. Beginning in 2006, Chris began attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he quickly learned the value of basketball and poplar trees. Since attending UNC, Chris has been double majoring in Asian Studies, with a concentration in Chinese, and Political Science. When he isn’t slaving over his honors thesis, looking up a bunch of Chinese Characters, volunteering, or mindlessly browsing the same websites over and over, Chris enjoys writing short stories and novels. Much to his roommates’ annoyance, he also spends his free time learning to play the guitar. Above all else, though, Chris values God, his family, and his friends. For the future, Chris plans to apply to Georgetown to further his studies in Political Science, hopefully with a concentration on China. Pending acceptance into Georgetown, Chris would like to study while gaining professional experience in a government job in Washington DC.

Latest posts by Chris Buchheit (see all)

• A Plastic in Every Pot - January 19, 2014
• Should You Buy an Extended Warranty? - January 13, 2014
• Can I Get a Student Loan After Bankruptcy? - January 9, 2014