Viewed in isolation, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 reduces total discretionary spending authority (those expenditures that don’t require statutory changes, including war and emergency spending) from $1.209 trillion in FY 2011 to $1.181 trillion in FY 2012), or $28 billion (2.3 percent).  Viewed over the past five years, however, this still constitutes an increase of $144 billion, in discretionary spending (13.5 percent).  

This may constitute an improvement over the past year, but begs the question, “Does it put the nation back on the path to fiscal solvency?”

The overarching issue is what impact does this bill have in conjunction with total spending levels.  Are we reducing spending enough to avert the fiscal collapse of the United States Government?   The Ryan budget was only supportable because it included significant reform of mandatory spending that, together with a discretionary spending cap of $1.019 trillion, put us on a trajectory that balanced the federal budget by the mid-2030’s and paid off the national debt by the mid-2050’s.  H.R. 3671 would take our annual discretionary spending (in conjunction with all other bills) to $1.181 trillion without any reform of mandatory spending. 

All told, this bill cements total authorized federal spending for FY 2012 at $3.693 trillion with revenue of only $2.635 trillion, assuring another one trillion dollar-plus budget deficit.  That means roughly $13,000 of additional debt on every family of four (per capita x 4), which they will be required to repay through their future taxes.

Last year (FY 2011), total authorized spending amounted to $3.650 trillion meaning that total federal spending has increased by $43 billion, or about $550 per family (per capita x 4) in the past year.

Proportionally, this is the same as a family earning $26,350 that plans to spend $36,930 next year, putting another $10,580 on a credit card that already carries a balance of more than $150,000.  Rather than cutting its overall spending, it has increased it by $43, while cutting only $28 from its “discretionary” choices.   

The question on HR 2055 comes down to this: “Is that family acting responsibly?”

Vote Note by Congressman Tom McClintock on HR 2055 — Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012.