Harry Reid is OK with Wasting Taxpayer’s Money
Posted on 20. Oct, 2009 by James Devere in American Politics
Senate majority leader Harry Reid recently caused a stir by commenting that tort reform would only save 54 billion dollars out of what is a 2 trillion dollar healthcare plan. Most of the headlines have dealt with the 2 trillion dollar price tag. Little has been said about the claim that 54 billion dollars per year is too small to attract the attention of those reforming healthcare.
At a time when families are tightening their belts and cutting a few dollars here and there out their budgets, it is the arrogance of the Senator that is troubling. Senator Reid is counting on an insanely high dollar value of 2 trillion to make people think that 54 billion is a waste of time. Rather than explain the numbers, Harry Reid suggested, “You do the math.” So we did.
2 trillion dollars is 2000 billion dollars, out of which we can save an additional 54 billion dollars. Adjust this ratio to dollars and you have the potential to save $54 out of a $2000 budget. $2000 per year is in the range of what an average American family pays in healthcare premiums today. Now, imagine your employer at your annual benefits meeting telling their employees that they have identified $54 dollars in saving to your premiums but were not going to give it to you.
To put Harry Reid’s dismissal of 54 Billion dollars in savings into more perspective, let’s look at the average income for Americans. In 2000, an average household earned a little over $50,000 per year, this translates into $3600 – 4200 in take-home-pay per month depending upon on taxes, insurance, 401K, etc. So to keep the same ratio of savings, an average $4000 household would be able to cut $108 per month out of their budget. And guess what, Mr. Reid? That is exactly what Americans are doing: scraping to save $30-40 on groceries, cutting TV packages, eating out less, canceling vacations. Americans are sacrificing for their families and the Senate is too busy, adding $900 Billion to healthcare costs, to even consider the savings. It is shameful.
Let’s look at the relativity of the stimulus package, which included a tax cut of $35 per month in 2010. This cut is often brought up by the Administration, the President, and leaders of the Democratic Party as they tout their accomplishments. The Democrats (correctly) consider the $35 added to a $4000 in income as a difference maker.
To further show the hypocrisy of the Democrats’ proposal to ignore $54 in savings per $2000 in spending, take a look at the following video. Back in April, the Administration touted a proposal to cut 100 million dollars from a federal budget of 3.6 Trillion dollars. Doing the same math that Mr. Reid is too busy to do, these heralded budget cuts will save 10 cents for every $3600 in spending. After realizing that the American public can do math, the Administration quickly raised their budget cutting efforts up to 17 Billion dollars, or $17 for every $3600 in spending.
As part of the healthcare debate, it is disturbing that Senator Reid would consider his party above the task of scrimping, saving, and making tough budget decisions that, by default, should be left to American taxpayers.
One Response to “Harry Reid is OK with Wasting Taxpayer’s Money”