Kerby Anderson

Our federal debt has been soaring to dangerous levels. According to the US Debt Clock, we are about to pass $34 trillion in national debt. As I have mentioned in previous commentaries, the debt to GDP is reaching an all-time high.

Even though Congress passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act, there doesn’t seem to be any fiscal responsibility. Members of Congress will be passing another large supplemental bill for wars and border security. Soaring debt is due in large part to soaring spending and entitlement programs currently on autopilot.

Is there a solution? Chris Edwards proposes one solution: phase out federal subsidies for state and local activities such as K-12 education and welfare. If the federal government cuts subsidies, the states could make prudent decisions about programs. They could downsize some and decide to fund others with their resources.

If states were to fund their own programs, each state could design programs to match local needs without the current one-size-fits-all federal mandate. It would also cut out the costs of the programs that are costlier than necessary to pay federal government bureaucrats.

State budgets traditionally have been more efficient. Nearly all states (49) have balanced-budget requirements, and most (43) governors have line-item vetoes that allow them to strike wasteful spending from budgets.

Chris Edward explains that the federal government accounts for two-thirds of the nation’s government spending, while the state and local governments account for one-third. He says we should be like Switzerland, where just one-third of government spending is federal.

His commentary reminds us there are ways to reduce federal spending, but we need to elect people to Congress who are willing to do it.