Why Does Senator McCaskill Want to Bankrupt Our Children?

Monday 2 May 2011
by: Dean Baker, Truthout

That is what people should be asking Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill along with her fellow senators who advocated strict caps on government spending. The idea being pushed by Senator McCaskill, together with Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker and several other prominent senators, would limit federal spending to 20.6 percent of GDP. It would require difficult-to-obtain super majorities to exceed this cap. Spending would be cut across a variety of programs if the cap is not reached.

This proposal is hugely deserving of ridicule for a variety of reasons. First, it operates from a blatantly wrong premise - that government spending has grown out of control.