January 23, 2023
Congress crafted a record federal spending bill for fiscal year 2023. The legislation totals roughly 4,000 pages (who actually read all that?!) and calls for $1.7 trillion in fresh federal government funding.
It includes $772 billion for non-defense discretionary programs and $858 billion in defense funding, which was a 9.7% increase. The bill also gave military members a 4.6% raise in pay.
But the spending doesn’t stop there. The bill includes about $45 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and NATO, along with more spending for disaster aid, college access, childcare, mental health, and food assistance. It also includes more support for the military and veterans as well as additional funds for the U.S. Capitol Police.
This huge bill was presented and rushed through at the end of the year because the government needs funding to run. It’s beyond me how we think it’s smart to slam down 4,000 pages dictating all our spending and provide hardly any time to review the details.
The spending will also go to help pay utility bills, further enhance retirement savings programs, and provide more support for the environment. And that’s just what we know about now. More may come out later.
The bottom line is federal spending goes up every year and our national debt just gets higher and higher. No one knows how long this can continue. But we do know that when it stops, things will get very ugly.