{mosads}The concession numbers were pointed out repeatedly by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) as he tried to stave off a primary challenge. Mica called the losses “staggering,” and he used the criticism of the Amtrak food sales to push back against the argument that he was a supporter of government spending. At one point, Mica went to a Capitol-area McDonald’s to order a $1 hamburger to make his point.
The Heritage Foundation report, titled Federal Spending by the Numbers, finds that the federal government spend $3.6 trillion in fiscal 2012, which ended last month. The report say the total was 22 percent of the U.S. economy.
“The federal government has closed out its fourth straight year of trillion-dollar-plus deficits, and the imperative to rein in spending has never been greater,” the report said. “Because all government spending gets paid for through either taxes or borrowing—both of which burden the economy—spending reduction is an essential condition for promoting economic growth.”
The full Heritage Foundation spending report can be read here.