Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Here’s a good way to put the brakes on spending

Contrary to popular news reporting, continuing resolutions are good for American taxpayers for several reasons.

First, they force savings in federal spending by limiting spending to the previous fiscal year. Federal agencies are permitted to spend only at 2010 fiscal year levels, unless they request supplemental appropriations and/or reprogramming of funds through the Office of Management and Budget. This process requires weeks of time and effort for review and approval.

Spending at the previous year’s level is good. Typically, annual federal spending creeps up year over year by amounts ranging from 2 to 10 percent. Reducing budget creep saves taxpayers a lot of money.

Second, the practice of Congress passing yearly appropriations by Oct. 1, for 12 months out and ending Sept. 30 of the next year, is antiquated and unrealistic. Congress and the American people can’t possibly know and accurately budget for the events and circumstances of a year ahead. Look at the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan plus the war in Libya. Who knew?

Third, forcing Congress and the president to focus on the federal budget throughout the year, as the continuing resolution process does, allows constant adjusting and reprogramming of taxpayer money. Congress and the American people will have better information on actual spending levels, not just estimates.

Hence, there is real budget savings so far for fiscal year 2011 and we still have six more months to go. More savings are still likely for U.S. taxpayers.

By the time Sept. 30 is here, unspent tax revenue may even revert to the Treasury and offset the growing U.S. deficit. Now that’s budget progress.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy