Back to the (Fiscal) Future

Don't worry -- this isn't rocket science, guys.

As the Federal Government faces the imminent need to once again extend the budget cap, there is ample hand-wringing to go around. However, the solution to this problem is quite simple: take per capita federal spending back to the level it was during the last full year of President Bill Clinton's second term (2000).

U.S. Budget

2000: $2.4T
2012: $3.7T
% Change: +54%

U.S. Population

2000: 281M
2012: 315M
% Change: +12%

In other words, federal spending has increased almost 5X faster than the population has grown in only the past 12 years! Why, because President Clinton was a horrible president and he gutted the Federal Government during his two terms forcing presidents Bush and Obama to inflate spending? Hardly. I would argue that the country was in much BETTER shape in 2000 than it is today, and for HALF THE MONEY (what a bargain)!

Are you the head of a federal agency and want to know how much your budget should be for the next fiscal year? Look it up here, and then just multiply by 1.34 to correct for inflation.