Opinion : Why the federal budget deficit is my fault – and possibly yours, too

  According to a recent CBS news poll, 86 percent of Americans think government needs to cut spending to reduce the deficit.

    So why can’t – or won’t – Congress cut the budget?

    Because Congress represents us, and we don’t want Congress to cut the budget.

   “ Wait a minute,” you may say. “You just said that the poll indicates that 86 percent of Americans want to cut spending.”

    I did.

    “Then how,” you may ask “can you claim that Americans do not want Congress to cut the budget.”

    Easy, I would reply.

    While we all say we want Congress to cut the budget, we most certainly do not Congress to cut the budget in ways that affect us.

    That includes me.

    I am one reason for the federal deficit and the national debt.  

    Here are a few ways in which I, personally, contribute on a regular basis to the red ink.

Ethanol subsidies

    Two or three times each week, I go to the Fast Stop pump and fill my minivan with E85.

     You, the American taxpayer, are paying part of that.

     I use E-85 because right now, it is 60 cents per gallon cheaper than the fuels most other people use. But it’s cheaper only because of a federal subsidy for ethanol.

    Right now, there is a debate over ethanol subsidies in Congress. But many of the lawmakers who are known as fiscal conservatives – including Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley – have written a letter defending ethanol subsidies.

Refundable tax credits

     Unlike many Americans, I eagerly anticipate tax time each year. That’s because under the current tax law, I receive a refund that is significantly larger than the amount of federal taxes deducted from my paychecks. With the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit, the Additional Child Tax Credit, the Making Work Pay Tax Credit (and many others), millions of people receive a “refund” check from the IRS each year for several thousands of dollars.

      Some people – mostly those who do not receive such refunds – are calling for an end, or at least a reduction in this area.

     But the politicians would call it a “tax increase” although indeed it is not a tax increase at all. And nobody wants to raise taxes.

     That CBS survey said that only 18 percent of Americans want higher taxes. And of course, if the survey got specific enough to let people say what kind of taxes they want to raise, most of them would say “taxes on the other guy, but not me.”

Farm subsidies

   More than 80 percent of Iowa farmers receive funding in some form from farm subsidy programs.

   While I do not directly receive such a payment, the man who rents a small piece of land on my farm does. So, indirectly, I am a beneficiary of this program.

   That CBS survey indicates that of all the programs Americans think should be cut, farm subsidies are near the top of the list. But among the top 10 states in farm subsidies are California and Texas. Iowa may not have much clout in Congress, but with California and Texas on our side, it will be hard for Congress to make any major reductions in farm subsidies.

     By the way, the top recipients of subsidies include a California title insurance company, a Tampa, Fla., real estate company,  The American Peanut Marketing Association (Peanut Proud) and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.  

         * * * * * * 

     Those are just three ways in which I contribute to the national debt. I am sure that if you consider the programs which benefit you, soon you would have to admit that you, too, are part of the problem.

     Most Americans are. Social Security. Medicare. College. Many people receive more money from Uncle Sam through via these three programs than they have paid it.

    I am not saying that is wrong; I am just saying that it adds to our deficit.

    And if we want to cut spending – and that polls says more than 8 of 10 of us do – soon we are going to have to say how we want to cut that spending – and whom we want those spending cuts to affect.

    And I predict that far fewer than 86 percent of us will tell the pollster, “Reduce the deficit by cutting the program that benefits me or my geographical area.”

     But until we do, we will never see a true reduction in government spending.