Washington has an addiction to spending today that is not unlike an alcohol or crack addiction

Intervention Failure in Washington: Budgets, Addicts and Enablers

- Paul Ibbetson
Wednesday, April 13, 2011

I feel two percent happier today, as that is the amount of the 2011 federal budget that has been trimmed by the recent political negotiations that averted a government shutdown. Here are the numbers: the CBO estimates that our spending for 2011 will be $3.7 trillion. Congressional leaders have just taken the nation through a gut-wrenching, televised mini-drama over the last few weeks and after all the wrangling and tough talk, $38.5 billion in spending cuts, a meager two percent reduction of the projected budget, were agreed upon. Really? That’s the best they could do? Let’s get real about our country’s spending situation.

Washington has an addiction to spending today that is not unlike an alcohol or crack addiction. The failure to reduce spending by any noticeable amount simply places a magnifying glass on a problem that Americans have been opposing for some time. The most unfortunate part of this destructive government spiral is that you and I, the American people, are having the flip the bill for the spending “monkeyâ€