The era of big government has arrived
by Pete Kasperowicz | Feb 9, 2018, 10:00 AM
Congress this week threw away seven years of earnest attempts to rein in government spending, and said loud and clear, "Big government is here to stay."
To be fair, Congress was never really that into the idea of chopping spending.
In a move that now appears to be more anti-Obama than pro-fiscal restraint, Republicans in 2011 set up an automatic system of chopping discretionary spending, known as the sequester. If spending got too high, automatic cuts would happen.
But in 2012, Congress voted to return some of that spending. And in 2013, they removed even more of the cuts. And in 2015, they added back even more money.
Clearly, their hearts weren't in it. But even with these changes, some spending was held in check.
Defense spending went from $518 billion in 2013 to $551 billion in 2017. Nondefense spending went from $484 billion to $519 billion in the same time period.
Increases, yes, but pretty modest.
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