Rex gets fined, and so will the American people

Jets head coach Rex Ryan, the Big Apple’s newest favorite son, gave a bunch of rowdy Dolphins fans the finger after they heckled him in a Miami bar. The Jets fined Ryan $50,000.

Meanwhile, in Washington, President Obama has released his fiscal year 2011 budget. Spending will top out at $3.72 trillion and keep rising to $3.83 trillion in 2011. Congress voted to raise the debt ceiling to $14.3 trillion, while noting that this would only get us through the next year.

This is a big middle finger in the face of Americans, and who pays the fine? Taxpayers and future generations.

2011 will become taxpayers’ most expensive year. The president proposes $25 billion in new spending for state Medicaid funds, $30 billion for a new job stimulus bill and nearly $100 billion for state and local aid. If all of these wishes are granted, federal expenses will have risen an astounding 29 percent since 2008, and total government outlay in proportion to the gross domestic product will reach its highest level since post-World War II.

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of the arrogance of power in Washington. Obama and his administration have promised that spending will return to 23 percent of the GDP, but based on this budget, that’s not creditable.

We’ve heard the president voice his concerns and state that his future actions would lower the deficit over 10 years, but only by a paltry $250 billion. In addition, he has deliberately chosen to leave the mandated parts of the budget, e.g., Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, untouched.

He proposed freezing discretionary spending, but this only counts for 17 percent of all spending. Non-discretionary spending is where the bulk of our expenditures take place. This freeze is meaningless and will not address the larger spending problems that threaten the future prosperity of America.

Sometimes you just have to accept failure and admit that maybe there are policies that don’t work. Haven’t we already tried to throw billions of dollars at programs in the hope of stimulating the economy? And what was the result?