Originally Published On TheBottom99Percent.com
During Sunday’s GOP debate in New Hampshire, Gov. Rick Perry suggested, “the biggest problem facing this country today is a Congress that is out of control with their spending.” (See video clip below.)
Keep in mind:
The federal workforce is the lowest in decades, when measured as a ratio of federal employees to a thousand American citizens. Under Ronald Reagan, the number of federal workers per thousand citizens went from 12.49 to 12.62. Reagan not only expanded the federal budget and deficits, but also increased the total number of federal workers by a quarter million, to more 3,114,000 by 1989.
The single biggest federal government employment month was in 1990 under George H.W. Bush when the US had over 3,435,000 (including temporary Census workers). This is 300,000 more federal employees than the height of World War Two.
Since 1989 the US population has grown by 61,926,308 new citizens or 25%, but over the same time the ratio of federal workers continues to decrease.
Under George W. Bush the ratio went from 9.75 employees per thousand Americans down to 9.18, and now under Barack Obama the number has reached a new low of 9.12 per thousand Americans.
Not only has the ratio decreased by 27% from Reagan to Obama, but the total number of federal workers has also gone down by 297,000 employees from a high of 3,114,000 employees under the Reagan Administration in 1989.
For the record: according to the Office of Management and Budget, the highest ratio of federal workers per thousand citizens was under Richard Nixon (14.4). Barack Obama’s ratio is the lowest since 1962 (9.12). The total number of federal workers reached its maximum under President George H. W. Bush.
Compared with Ronald Reagan, the Obama Administration is serving 25% more Americans with 9% fewer federal workers, and spending proportionally less money to do it: when comparing the percentage of U.S. GDP represented by various areas of federal government operations, from the Reagan Administration to the Obama Administration, various categories of spending have dropped by anywhere from 12% (Defense) to 75% (Agriculture).
The only budget areas where government spending has increased as a percentage of GDP are the contribution-based retirement programs (Medicare and Social Security) and Medicaid.
Conclusion: The United States under the Obama Administration has fewer federal workers, and spends a smaller portion of our operational budget, than we did under Ronald Reagan.
For more details about common Republican claims that are unsupported or contradicted by the facts, please see our earlier post.
Read the original article at; http://thebottom99percent.com/debatewatch-perry-on-government-spending/
