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How much does the government spend every day?

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    Bret Baier calculates 'The Cost of Spending'

  • Duration 4:46
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Like so what about this spending issue we keep hearing so much about where are you -- tax dollars really going.

We take a look tonight in part one of our series the cost of spending.

We can't spend ourselves rich.

Presidents have been talking about the federal government spending appetite for decades.

President Reagan what it was just can be simply put.

The federal government is too big and it spends too much much president George H.

W.

Bush this government is to me.

And spends too much President Clinton this is the largest deficit reduction plan in history.

President George W.

Bush American families have to balance their budgets.

So should -- government and yes President Obama every day family sacrificed to live within their means.

Big -- government that doesn't -- in the most recent talks to avoid the so called fiscal cliff speaker John Boehner insist the president.

Has been singing a different tune.

That's -- the president is just not serious about cutting spending.

But spending is the -- you hear the Talking Heads every day the back and forth every day.

But have you tried recently to get your head around how much the federal government doles out every day.

When it comes to government spending -- the very basic math of the problem we've gotten ourselves into.

Let's take a look at each day during the month of November the government brought in a little more than five billion dollars of revenue it's a lot of money.

But we spends more than eleven billion dollars a day.

The difference -- you can clearly see is roughly six billion dollars so how can we keep spending more than we take him.

Economists we talked to you said it's simple we can't.

So the government spends more than eleven billion dollars a day where does the majority of that money go home.

Here -- the top four outlays at the top of the list the Department of Health and Human Services which goes through three billion of your tax dollars a dead.

Social Security is a close second at two and a half.

Billion dollars daily.

Keeping us safe the Department of Defense military programs come in at one point eight billion daily.

But economists say most concerning of all is number four down there at the bottom the smallest daily -- of this group.

Dropping down to 854 million dollars today but we don't get anything for that.

That's 854 million dollars.

Of interest that our country pays on our debt every single day.

Former democratic senator Evan -- We can't keep borrowing like this forward and the same problems that -- -- -- and that's one of the frustrating -- does not theoretical.

Not a classroom exercise you can look at Europe and see what happens if we continue down this past very much.

That's a place we don't want to go.

Alice Rivlin Bill Clinton's budget director puts the bulk of the spending problem.

On the promises made under Medicare Medicaid and to a lesser extent Social Security.

They'll drive federal spending up faster.

Than our economy can grow and revenues won't keep up.

So we have a problem if you don't.

Have enough revenues to pay for the spending you have to borrow.

And on the track -- we're on if we go on doing what is in the law.

Over the next several decades our public debt will rise faster than our economy can grow.

When that happens you've got a real problem because you got to pay interest on that debt.

And your creditors see that your debts rising faster than -- economy is growing so they charge more and more and.

It's a very bad situation.

Arthur Brooks with the American Enterprise Institute is the -- current debates about higher taxes misguided.

Which federal spending on overdrive.

It's as simple as a family that does that and and the problem is right now that you have a situation in which the government -- -- -- it's overspending ways Trace -- rationalize it by saying that actually the problem is that we're under taxing the American public.

It's it's like you're irresponsible brother in law runs of this credit cards and goes bust and says the real problem is -- you stopped sending me checks.

It's it's crazy you that's irresponsible of me we've become a kind of a debtor nation that has this mentality of the -- we could squeeze more money out of people who were working in and but working and honestly earning their living that we could solve this problem the truth of the matter is our country spends too much.

Take -- closer.

Look at the debt and deficit tomorrow and part two so what do you want the government to spend your money on let me know on Twitter you can follow me.

At -- there.

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