Bush Budget-Cutting

The Grand Old Spending Party
How Republicans Became Big Spenders
by Stephen Slivinski
Policy Analysis No. 543 May 3, 2005
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa543.pdf
(Thanks to Tyler Cowan at Marginal Revolution for the Pointer)

A Must-Read for Anyone concerned with growing Government with Spending increases. It proves Bush deliberately increased Discretionary Spending (nondefense), as intentionally as he reduced Tax revenues. Now if this Author could only interest some Economist in a Study of exactly where the reduced Tax revenues went to: the average amount of Taxes saved by each Income group, according to IRS records.

Some Quotes from the above Study:

Total government spending grew by 33 percent
during Bush’s first term. The federal budget
as a share of the economy grew from 18.5 percent
of GDP on Clinton’s last day in office to 20.3 percent
by the end of Bush’s first term.

Government spending has grown from
$1.86 trillion to $2.48 trillion—up 33 percent
since 2001.

When defense and homeland security spending are
excluded, George W. Bush’s annualized rate
of budget growth falls, but only by 0.2 percentage
points. Simply put, defense and
homeland security spending is not driving
the overall Bush budget bloat.

Inflation-adjusted defense spending is higher today ($402.6 billion) than
it was at the high point of Reagan’s defense
buildup ($399.6 billion) and rivals Johnson’s
largest Vietnam War defense budget ($421.3
billion)

The real value of this Study is obvious, but it lacks the real component to reflect the real cause of the growth of Government, bless George W. Bush's Corporate soul. Real direction of increased Government Spending outlines a flow of Taypayers' Dollars to Government Corporate Venders through Supply Contracts. These Contracts have expanded the production of these Venders by almost 40%, at triple the Profits coming under the Clinton administration. A real secret of Bush success: The Cash flows to the Corporations now, the benefit to Taxpayer and Citizen lies on the far-distant horizon. lgl