Gene Steuerle: The U.S. is Broke

For the first time in U.S. history, in 2009 every single dollar of revenue was committed before Congress voted on any spending program. Meanwhile, most of government’s basic functions — from justice to education to turning on the lights in the Capitol — are paid for out of swelling, unsustainable deficits…

Gradually, over decades, Americans have committed almost all government revenues to what policy nerds call “mandatory programs” — those whose funding and growth are set by past laws — and to interest on the debt…

By the time Obama took office, we had basically taken democracy — the right to have lawmakers represent our real interests — out of the hands of newly elected officials.

Full op-ed by Steuerle in USA Today.

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