There will be over one trillion dollars in budget deficit this year but that does not include the so -called "off-budget expenditures.”
Much of what the government spends is done out of its official budget, i.e. "off-budget." These expenditures do not affect the official deficit that is discussed in the press when the Rube-publicans are in office. They do affect the amount of cash the government needs. Where does it get that cash? It borrows it by issuing Treasury paper.
Off-budget expenditures pay for a variety of programs: Social Security, the US Postal Service, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are among the more familiar ones. But the category also includes things like disaster relief spending, some military spending, and unfunded liabilities that turn into actual costs. Federal student loan guarantees sometimes force the government to disburse cash. That is an off-budget outlay.
Off-budget outlays have risen in part because they include Social Security benefits, and the Baby Boomer generation is retiring. But the other categories mentioned above have grown as well, and they are increasingly problematic.
So the recent interest in deficit spending, a hallmark of Democrat administrations, now has revealed the truth: The Rube-publicans are no more likely to manage government costs than Democrats. And the anxiety about deficits, which appear so partisan, may actually be legitimate. Perhaps the press has always felt the Rube-publicans would take the bullet and impose unpopular but necessary discipline on the nation. Now it is clear that will not happen and we are left without a rescue.
The "off-budget" problem is only a peak into a very disorderly house which shows not only a mess but a mindset that encourages it.
Off-budget outlays have risen in part because they include Social Security benefits, and the Baby Boomer generation is retiring. But the other categories mentioned above have grown as well, and they are increasingly problematic.
So the recent interest in deficit spending, a hallmark of Democrat administrations, now has revealed the truth: The Rube-publicans are no more likely to manage government costs than Democrats. And the anxiety about deficits, which appear so partisan, may actually be legitimate. Perhaps the press has always felt the Rube-publicans would take the bullet and impose unpopular but necessary discipline on the nation. Now it is clear that will not happen and we are left without a rescue.
The "off-budget" problem is only a peak into a very disorderly house which shows not only a mess but a mindset that encourages it.
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