Clinton's Labor Secretary on Budget

I don’t want to rain on the President’s parade. He’s right when he says more money is flowing into the Treasury this year than last, which means the federal budget deficit will be lower. Frankly I donÂ’t blame the President for making the most of every bit of good news he can find. But it’s important to put this good news in context. This year’s federal budget deficit will still total between $280 and $300 billion. That’s better than the $318 billion hole that was expected. But it’s hardly cause for celebration. Federal spending is still way out of control. It’s at a higher rate and a higher percent of the overall economy than a decade ago. Even if you take military spending out of the calculation, you see almost nothing but more spending. And lots of the spending is for pork (bridges to nowhere) and corporate welfare (farm subsidies, a drug benefit that mainly benefits Big Pharma).