So what's the deal with this Balanced Budget Amendment that the GOP has been screaming about?
Well, it's seems to be a (Koch Funded) Heritage Idea that the U.S. should change it's constitution to require it to only spend a maximum of 18% of it's GDP and require a Super-Majority Vote to increase that spending limit.
They claim that our major problem is spending, not revenue with charts like this.
Here, Thom Hartmann debates one supporter of the Heritage Plan, and points out that the only counties with Government Spending as low as what Heritage claims we should shoot for - are Third World Nations gripped in crushing poverty.
Is that what Heritage wants to turn America into? A third world nation with no middle class, just the super wealthy and the super poor with no safety net?
Yeah, I think that's exactly what they want.
Here is a list of the Government Expeditures as a percentage of GDP. Source
Country |
GE as % GDP |
1. Iraq |
87.3 |
2. Cuba
|
81.4 |
3. Slovakia |
66.2 |
4. Timor |
65.5 |
5. Romania |
65.5 |
6. Moldova |
63.4 |
7. France |
61.1 |
8. Seychelles |
60.3 |
9. Hungary |
59.1 |
10. Guyana |
58.8 |
11. Czech Republic |
58.8 |
12. Sao Tome |
58.3 |
13. Sweden |
58.1 |
14. Denmark |
58.1 |
15. Iceland |
58.1 |
16. Malta |
57.9 |
17. Qatar |
57.2 |
18. Kuwait |
56.1 |
19. Belgium |
56.0 |
20. Norway |
55.8 |
21. Uzbekistan |
55.6 |
22. Colombia |
55.3 |
23. Italy |
55.3 |
24. Netherlands |
54.7 |
25. Austria |
54.3 |
26. Finland |
54.2 |
27. Portugal |
54.1 |
28. Lesotho |
53.8 |
29. Libya |
53.0 |
30. Belarus |
52.9 |
31. Cyprus (no Turk-adm) |
52.6 |
32. Ukraine |
52.1 |
33. Yemen |
50.9 |
34. Greece |
50.7 |
35. Brunei |
50.5 |
36. Georgia |
50.4 |
37. UK |
50.0 |
38. Bosnia/Herzegovina |
50.0 |
39. Bulgaria |
49.9 |
40. Swaziland |
49.9 |
41. Germany |
48.8 |
42. Malawi |
48.2 |
43. Canada |
48.2 |
44. Latvia |
47.7 |
45. Jordan |
47.6 |
46. Egypt |
47.5 |
47. Spain |
47.3 |
48. Slovenia |
47.1 |
49. Ghana |
47.0 |
50. Croatia |
46.8 |
51. New Zealand |
46.6 |
52. Oman |
46.5 |
53. Estonia |
45.8 |
54. Zambia |
45.4 |
55. Papua New Guinea |
44.9 |
56. Angola |
44.8 |
57. Namibia |
44.2 |
58. Azerbaijan |
43.9 |
59. Lithuania |
43.9 |
60. Jamaica |
43.9 |
61. Lebanon |
43.7 |
62. Zimbabwe |
43.7 |
63. Israel |
43.6 |
64. Australia |
43.6 |
65. West Bank/Gaza |
43.4 |
66. Algeria |
43.1 |
67. Uruguay |
43.0 |
68. Serbia |
42.8 |
69. Ireland |
41.5 |
70. Venezuela |
41.1 |
71. Saudi Arabia |
40.4 |
72. Congo, Republic |
39.2 |
73. Burundi |
39.1 |
74. Turkey |
39.1 |
75. Bahrain |
38.6 |
76. Switzerland |
37.8 |
77. Mozambique |
37.7 |
78. Luxembourg |
37.5 |
79. Kazakhstan |
37.2 |
80. Vietnam |
36.9 |
81. Rwanda |
36.7 |
82. Trinidad/Tobago |
36.3 |
83. Botswana |
35.9 |
84. Macedonia |
35.9 |
85. Syria |
35.5 |
86. Peru |
35.3 |
87. Cape Verde |
34.4 |
88. Eritrea |
34.1 |
89. South Africa |
33.9 |
90. Kenya |
33.6 |
91. Tajikistan |
33.4 |
92. Mongolia |
33.3 |
93. Indonesia |
33.2 |
94. Malaysia |
32.8 |
95. Gambia |
32.4 |
96. Belize |
32.1 |
97. Senegal |
31.5 |
98. Bolivia |
31.3 |
99. UAE |
31.3 |
100. Kyrgyzstan |
31.1 |
101. Dominican Rep. |
31.0 |
102. Iran |
31.0 |
103. Japan |
30.9 |
104. Gabon |
30.7 |
105. Morocco |
30.7 |
106. Sri Lanka |
29.5 |
107. South Korea |
29.3 |
108. Chile |
29.1 |
109. Madagascar |
28.3 |
110. Panama |
28.0 |
111. Pakistan |
28.0 |
112. Albania |
27.9 |
113. Burkina Faso |
27.7 |
114. Uganda |
27.6 |
115. Tunisia |
27.4 |
116. Mexico |
26.7 |
117. Paraguay |
26.4 |
118. Nepal |
26.3 |
119. Nicaragua |
26.0 |
120. Ecuador |
25.8 |
121. Honduras |
25.6 |
122. Aruba |
25.6 |
123. Togo |
25.3 |
124. Benin |
24.8 |
125. Tanzania |
24.6 |
126. Nigeria |
24.1 |
127. Equatorial Guinea |
23.9 |
128. Sudan |
23.3 |
129. Congo, Dem. Rep. of |
22.9 |
130. Thailand |
22.8 |
131. El Salvador |
22.5 |
132. China |
22.0 |
133. Ethiopia |
21.8 |
134. British Virgin Islands |
21.5 |
135. Cote d'Ivoire |
21.4 |
136. Poland |
21.2 |
137. Taiwan |
21.2 |
138. Mauritius |
21.2 |
139. Laos |
21.0 |
140. Guinea |
21.0 |
141. Russia |
20.9 |
142. India |
20.4 |
143. Chad |
19.9 |
144. US |
19.9 |
145. Cameroon |
19.1 |
146. Argentina |
19.1 |
147. Armenia |
17.8 |
148. Philippines |
17.7 |
149. Brazil |
17.3 |
150. Hong Kong |
17.0 |
151. Guatemala |
16.7 |
152. CAR |
16.6 |
153. Costa Rica |
16.5 |
154. Haiti |
16.4 |
155. Singapore |
16.3 |
156. Bahamas |
16.0 |
157. Cambodia |
13.3 |
158. Bangladesh |
12.8 |
159. Turkmenistan |
9.6 |
160. Afghanistan |
9.2 |
We're number 144! We're Number 144!
Yet Heritage would like us to drop even further down on the list. Down around Taiwan, the Philippines, Haiti or Cambodia. Yeah, that's American Exceptionalism.
Interesting that Iraq is number 1 on the list, I guess because government work (as part of the Military, or a paid Security Force Member) is the only work anyone there can get, and guess exactly whose paying for that? We Are!
Of course Heritage ignores that the only time we've had revenues out-pace spending in the last 60 years was when our revenues were far higher than they are now, then at over 20%. That was during the end of the Clinton Era.
They may be using CBO data to produce their chart, but the fact is that what they're leaving out is more important than what they included. CBO themselves produced this chart some months back which shows exactly what would happen if we simply let the Bush Tax Cuts Expires (as they are scheduled to do in 2012), while the bottom portion shows what would happen if we implement the GOP/Heritage Plan.
See that? Except for Interest on the debt which isn't shown on this chart, the deficit would essentially disappear if we return to Clinton Rates.
We don't need no stinking Balanced Budget Amendment, all we need to do is get rid of the George Bush Tax Rates.
Voila! Balanced Budget. Certainly a better plan than turning into Cambodia.
You really want government completely "off your back"? Move to Somalia, see how that works out for you.
More recently the CBO has produced an Update which states.
Deficits and debt over the next 10 years: CBO’s baseline projections incorporate the assumption that current law remains in place so they can serve as a benchmark for policymakers to use in considering possible changes to law. If the recovery continues as CBO expects, and if tax and spending policies unfold as specified in current law, deficits will drop markedly as a share of GDP over the next few years. Under CBO’s baseline projections, sharp increases in revenues that will occur when provisions of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the 2010 tax act) expire.
That would be the bill that extended the Bush Cuts for another two years and actually produced the big "Spending Spike" that Heritage is crying about. The faster we get rid of those cuts, the better.
Vyan
Restore Our Democracy