A completely unoriginal thought ....
It seems to be damn near impossible to cut back on government spending. Look at the current presidential election - we have a Republican President who has increased government spending, going up against Democratic candidates who are all going to increase government spending if they get into office. The strange thing is that most people want the government to cut spending on SOMETHING. The key problem is that they want the government to cut spending on everything EXCEPT FOR those projects that they personally benefit from or support for some other reason.
Suggest cutting someone’s personal pet programs, and they will tend to react like a parent would if you physically attacked their child. No one would even THINK about cutting money for my beloved (insert name of government program here) unless they were a vicious evil fascist pig who eats small children as late-night snacks. With this attitude, it’s really not a surprise that it’s so difficult to cut spending. As a general rule, politicians don’t like to do things that will probably make the majority of voters hate them. The more you try to cut, the more hatred is directed at you. Fiscal responsibility = political suicide in many, if not most, cases.
Suggest cutting someone’s personal pet programs, and they will tend to react like a parent would if you physically attacked their child. No one would even THINK about cutting money for my beloved (insert name of government program here) unless they were a vicious evil fascist pig who eats small children as late-night snacks. With this attitude, it’s really not a surprise that it’s so difficult to cut spending. As a general rule, politicians don’t like to do things that will probably make the majority of voters hate them. The more you try to cut, the more hatred is directed at you. Fiscal responsibility = political suicide in many, if not most, cases.