Public spending

“ One of these is economy in government expenditures. The duty of economy is not debatable. It is manifest and imperative. In the appropriations we pass we are spending the money of the great people whose servants we are,-not our own. ”

“ It is through the expenditure of public money that the State works in all of its activities, and it is the first duty of the science of finance to determine their nature and scope. Finance accepts public expenditures as a fact. ”

“ The principal causes which have operated at this time to produce this great difference are shown in the reports and documents and in the detailed estimates. Some of these causes are accidental and temporary, while others are permanent, and, aided by a just course of administration, may continue to operate beneficially upon the public expenditures.
A just economy, expending where the public service requires and withholding where it does not, is among the indispensable duties of the Government. ”

“ I flatter myself that the exhibition thus made of the condition of the public administration will serve to convince you that every proper attention has been paid to the interests of the country by those who have been called to the heads of the different Departments. The reduction in the annual expenditures of the Government already accomplished furnishes a sure evidence that economy in the application of the public moneys is regarded as a paramount duty. ”

“ It is believed that after the heavy expenditures required by the public service in the present year shall have been provided for, the revenues which will accrue from that or a nearly approximate rate of duty will be sufficient to defray the expenses of the Government and leave a surplus to be annually applied to the gradual payment of the national debt, leaving the proceeds of the public lands to be disposed of as Congress shall see fit. ”

“ The soundest maxims of public policy and the principals upon which our republican institutions are founded recommend a proper adaptation of the revenue to the expenditure, and they also require that the expenditure shall be limited to what, by an economical administration, shall be consistent with the simplicity of the Government and necessary to an efficient public service. ”

“ Resolved, That it is the duty of every branch of the government to enforce and practice the most rigid economy in conducting our public affairs, and that no more revenue ought to be raised than is required to defray the necessary expenses of the government. ”

“ Last Wednesday night I went on television to explain to you the budget decisions we must make. Our greatest challenge is bringing down deficit spending and doing it in a way which will keep our economy vigorous and expanding. ”

“ Let it practice true and conscientious economy, not only in the expenditure and application of public moneys, but also in the method of levying them, so as to be equally just to all classes and all economical interests. ”

“ Large functions in connection with public finance, likewise, are vested in the body. By it the annual budget is prepared, the accounts which the Empire carries with the states are audited, and important supervisory relations with the Imperial Bank, the Imperial Debt Commission, and other fiscal agencies, are maintained. ”

“ It will be the duty of Congress wisely to forecast and estimate these extraordinary demands, and, having added them to our ordinary expenditures, to so adjust our revenue laws that no considerable annual surplus will remain. We will fortunately be able to apply to the redemption of the public debt any small and unforeseen excess of revenue. This is better than to reduce our income below our necessary expenditures, with the resulting choice between another change of our revenue laws and an increase of the public debt. ”

“ The public expenditures, from the dearness of every thing, necessarily became immense; greater in proportion than in other countries; and much beyond any revenues which the best concerted scheme of finance could have extracted from the natural funds of the State. No taxes, which the people were capable of bearing, on that quantity of money which is deemed a proper medium for this country (had it been gold instead of paper) , would have been sufficient for the current exigencies of Government. ”

“ Now, however, when the public expenditure is about to be vastly increased, and when it will be for the first time really felt by the people, it will become the first duty of our rulers to study the extent and true character of our resources, and to adjust the burdens of taxation, with all practicable fairness, to the respective capacities of all classes and interests. ”

“ You know, I'm always struck by people that are in and around the budgetary process for a number of years relating to spending in the federal government that suddenly discover we've added $5 trillion to our bar tab. ”

“ The public revenue, then, should be regulated and adapted to the proper service of the general government. It should be ample; for a deficit in the public income, always to be deprecated, is sometimes attended, as we know well from history and from what has happened in our own time, with fatal consequences. In a country so rapidly growing as this is, with such diversified interests, new wants and unexpected calls upon the public treasury must frequently occur. Take some examples from this session. ”

“ I shall soon submit to Congress the proposed national budget for fiscal year 1993.
Through the budget, we shall pump-prime the economy; stimulate growth by focusing public investments on programs with the highest productive and economic returns; and provide social services and productivity programs that will empower the majority among us who are now without the means to lead decent and useful lives, particularly the farming, fishing and labor sectors. ”

“ When we contemplate the ordinary annual augmentation of impost from increasing population and wealth, the augmentation of the same revenue by its extension to the new acquisition, and the economies which may still be introduced into our public expenditures, I can not but hope that Congress in reviewing their resources will find means to meet the intermediate interest of this additional debt without recurring to new taxes, and applying to this object only the ordinary progression of our revenue. ”

“ Every government, considered as a corporate body, has needs of its own apart from those of the people whom it governs. Whether it be a city, a state, or a smaller governing unit, it must solve the problems of revenue and expenditure just as a private household. Later writers applied the term economics mainly to this group of problems to which we now apply the name public finance, rather than to that group which in the diagram above are included under Private Economics. ”

“ Many of them will tell you it's a blend of spending that will create jobs immediately, spending that will ensure investments for long-term economic growth, as well as some mix of tax cuts to put money back in the pockets of middle-class families and small business owners, and that a correct blend of that will get the economy moving again. ”

“ This ought not to increase the expense to the Government, while it would certainly be more consistent and add greatly to the efficiency of the Commission.
Economy in public expenditure is a duty that can not innocently be neglected by those intrusted with the control of money drawn from the people for public uses. ”

“ The annual revenue, after paying current expenditures, pensions, and the interest on the public debt, should furnish a moderate balance for the reduction of the principal; and that revenue, except so much as may be derived from a tax upon tobacco and liquors, should be raised by duties upon importations, the details of which should be so adjusted as to aid in securing remunerative wages to labor, and promote the industries, prosperity, and growth of the whole country. ”

“ I have heard a very experienced financier say, "If you want to raise a certain cheer in the House of Commons make a general panegyric on economy; if you want to invite a sure defeat, propose a particular saving". The process is simple. Every expenditure of public money has some apparent public object ”

“ The payments which have been made into the Treasury show the very productive state of the public revenue. ”

“ Besides the general construction (if the phrase may be allowed) of our government, adapted at all times to the purpose of checking excess as well as abuse in its expenditure, there should be an occasional adoption of enquiry to suit particular cases and particular departments. This mode is rendered indispensible from the complication, as well as the novelty, of many articles of public expence to which important and critical periods give rise ”

“ The principle of comprehensiveness requires that the budget cover all government agencies and
institutions undertaking government operations, so that the budget presents a consolidated and
complete view of these operations and is voted on, as a whole, by the body vested with national
legislative authority.
The principle of unity requires that all government resources be directed to a common pool to be
allocated and used for public expenditure according to the priorities of the government. ”

“ The fact of a treasury surplus, the amount of which is variously stated, has directed public attention to a consideration of the methods by which the national income may best be reduced to the level of a wise and necessary expenditure. ”

“ As you will see from the Budget which will be submitted to the Chamber, our finances are in an extremely difficult situation. I recommend you, above all, to adopt common measures adapted to meet the difficulties of the situation and to restore our credit. You will have moreover, to take measures to insure the supply of funds required for urgent reforms. One of the greatest wants of our Empire and of our subjects is the development of agriculture and industry, and the progress of civilisation and of public wealth. ”

“ With taxes mounting in all the subdivisions of government, the time has come for a veritable searching of heart with regard to the cost of the public service, and new demands should be most carefully scrutinised in the light of this problem of dollars and cents. ”

“ The great advantage of the new budget system is that it enables Congress to make a comprehensive plan of expenditure for the year and thus to hold the expenses within the estimated revenues.
Is it necessary for governments to borrow? Public Debts: Why Governments Borrow Money.—Nearly all nations, states, counties, cities, and even villages have debts. Why do they find it necessary to borrow money? Why should they not, like wise individuals, adopt a pay-as-you-go policy? ”

“ For want of a due degree of this responsibility, the public expenditure of the present age,—determined chiefly to the sustaining of burdens imposed by a preceding age,—perpetuates many abuses: and, though much ameliorated by the less unequal distribution of power, the public expenditure is yet as far from being regulated to the greatest advantage of the many, as the many are from exacting due responsibility and service from the few. ”

“ In times like these the cry goes up throughout the land, from people and politicians, that the Government should cut expenses. "Economy" is the promise and watchword of every administration, the slogan of every candidate for office. Chambers of Commerce demand a "business-like" pruning of expenditures, and the average citizen is certain that if he were given control there would be wholesale firing of useless Government clerks and a slaughter of boards, bureaus and commissions. Equally with the alphabet and the multiplication table, economy commands the support of us all. ”

“ America's prosperity requires restraining the spending appetite of the federal government. I welcome the bipartisan enthusiasm for spending discipline. I will send you a budget that holds the growth of discretionary spending below inflation, makes tax relief permanent, and stays on track to cut the deficit in half by 2009. (Applause.) My budget substantially reduces or eliminates more than 150 government programs that are not getting results, or duplicate current efforts, or do not fulfill essential priorities. The principle here is clear: Taxpayer dollars must be spent wisely, or not at all. ”

“ This is a long list, but I wanted to make a point: my budget is active and compassionate. Discretionary spending grows by a healthy, responsible 4 percent, enough to meet our needs. We fund goals like education, health and defense. We reduce debt at a record rate. ”

“ Among these none holds a more important place than the public revenue, from the direct operation of the power by which it is raised on the people, and by its influence in giving effect to every other power of the Government. The revenue depends on the resources of the country, and the facility by which the amount required is raised is a strong proof of the extent of the resources and of the efficiency of the Government. ”

“ I want us to cut more spending, but I hope we won't cut Government programs that help to prepare us for the new economy, promote responsibility and are organized from the grass roots up, not by Federal bureaucracy. ”

“ Tonight I would like just briefly to explain some of my major recommendations in the three main areas of national need.
1. A GROWING ECONOMY
BASIC POLICIES
First, we must keep our Nation prosperous. We seek full employment opportunity for every American citizen. I will present a budget designed to move the economy forward. More money will be left in the hands of the consumer by a substantial cut in excise taxes. We will continue along the path toward a balanced budget in a balanced economy. ”

“ The only considerable branch of the public revenue which yet remains unmortgaged, is thus regularly spent before it comes in. Like an improvident spendthrift, whose pressing occasions will not allow him to wait for the regular payment of his revenue, the state is in the constant practice of borrowing of its own factors and agents, and of paying interest for the use of its own money. ”