The economic crisis is forcing middle-class families and small businesses to make difficult budget decisions each and every day, and House Republicans believe that it’s time for Washington, DC to tighten its belt too. Unfortunately, the Democrats who control Washington believe otherwise and have set out on a spending binge destined to burden future generations with trillions in debt that they simply cannot afford. The Spend-o-Meter tracks this spending binge by documenting spending legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives since Democrats took control of Washington on January 20, 2009. Specifically, it includes all appropriation bills, as well as other types of spending bills which are not offset and/or require higher taxes. It does not include “authorization” bills which are bills that set guidelines for funding but don’t actually provide funding.
