No, America Doesn’t Have a Spending Problem—But An Oligarch Problem

3 facts that debunk this common right wing talking point used to deny working class people access to life's necessities

Every time a budget crisis looms or a corporate tax loophole is scrutinized, the same tired chorus resurfaces: “We have a spending problem!” It’s a line repeated like gospel by corporate media, Republicans, and yes, even a few cowardly corporate Democrats. This was the MAGA rallying cry when justifying the Big Ugly Bill, which massively cuts taxes for the wealthy while raising them on low income people.

But here’s the truth: America doesn’t have a spending problem—we have a corruption problem fueled by billionaire oligarchs and unchallenged by corporate media. And unless we face that truth, future policies will continue to elevate poverty and increase wealth and income inequality. Below I present three facts that corporate politicians and corporate media will never have the integrity to admit. Let’s Address This.

caption...

Fact 1: The U.S. Has Never Overspent on Social Programs That Help People Live

Despite the scare tactics, there has never been a documented case in U.S. history where our national budget was harmed because we invested too much in food access, affordable housing, public education, or healthcare. This idea is a manufactured lie meant to scare people away from compassion and convince us that austerity is some moral virtue. It is not.

On the contrary, when we have invested in social programs, it’s paid off. The GI Bill created a booming middle class (even as it was denied to Black soldiers—more on this later). The Affordable Care Act (while flawed) reduced the uninsured rate to historic lows. Programs like SNAP and Medicaid lift millions out of poverty every year. According to FRAC, “each dollar in federally funded SNAP benefits during a recession generates between $1.50 and $1.80 in economic activity.” The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports that in 2021 alone, federal safety net programs kept 37 million people out of poverty—including 6.7 million children.

So when someone says we’re “overspending” on the poor, what they really mean is: We’d rather spend that money on the rich.

Fact 2: The Outrage Only Started When Black & Brown People Got Access

There’s a deeply uncomfortable truth that too many white pundits and politicians refuse to say out loud: the moment welfare became racially inclusive, the backlash began.

Sociological research by Dr. Martin Gilens in Why Americans Hate Welfare shows that public support for welfare plummeted when media narratives started tying it to Black and brown Americans. Remember Ronald Reagan’s racist “welfare queen” trope? That was on purpose to demonize Black people, and Black women in particular. The facts are clear. The largest demographic to rely on government welfare is, and always has been, white Americans. Whether it was getting reparations for giving up the Black people they enslaved, getting 270 million acres of free land via the Homestead Act, getting the GI bill (which was denied to Black soldiers), getting FHA loans when redlining was official policy, or getting exclusive access to universities while banning Black and brown people—white Americans have always been the primary recipients of Government welfare, and no one batted an eye that we were “overspending.”

Post Civil Rights era, the programs didn’t change, in fact they decreased—only the perception of who was benefiting changed. And that’s when the “we have a spending problem” propaganda claim ignited. A nearly decade old study finds that:

White Americans are increasingly critical of the country’s social safety net, thanks in part to a rising tide of racial resentment. The study, conducted by researchers at two California universities, finds that opposition to welfare programs has grown among white Americans since 2008, even when controlling for political views and socioeconomic status. White Americans are more likely to favor welfare cuts when they believe that their status is threatened and that minorities are the main beneficiaries of safety net programs, the study says. The findings suggest that political efforts to cut welfare programs are driven less by conservative principles than by racial anxiety, the authors conclude.

So to be clear, this isn’t about fiscal policy. It’s about white supremacy. It's about maintaining racial hierarchies under the guise of economic stewardship.

Fact 3: The Real Overspending? War, Police, and Prisons

Let’s talk numbers. The U.S. currently spends more on its military than the next 10 countries combined, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Over $886 billion in 2024 alone went to the Pentagon. Add another $80 billion for federal law enforcement and $81 billion for prisons, and you’ve got a recipe for mass surveillance and oppression. Then, add the “Big Ugly Bill” and these numbers become even more grotesque, with hundreds of billions more allocated for the military, for ICE, and to build even more private prisons.

Yet questioning this obscene spending is somehow “un-American”? That’s the propaganda trick: militarize everything, defund humanity, and call it “freedom.”

This isn’t national defense—it’s a blank check for defense contractors and private prison profiteers. It’s war profiteering dressed up as patriotism. And when you ask why we can’t afford healthcare or pre-K, they’ll tell you the problem is you, not the grotesque trillion-dollar defense budget.

Conclusion

Let’s be honest: this isn’t about overspending. It’s about priorities—and right now, our government is prioritizing oligarchs over ordinary Americans. We’re told we “can’t afford” child care, universal healthcare, or debt-free college. But somehow we can afford tax cuts for billionaires? We can afford $400 million fighter jets, $50 billion border walls, and $59 billion for private prisons? All while 1 in 6 Americans are food insecure? The cruelty is the point, it seems.

Corporate media plays its part, too—refusing to challenge these narratives because it would mean losing access or offending donors. This is the same media that normalizes tax cuts for the rich but treats food stamps like a national emergency.

But we don’t have to accept this. Reject this propaganda claim that we cannot have life’s necessities because they cost too much. Humanity is never too expensive, but war always is. We must recognize that poverty is not a life choice, and we cannot let it become a life sentence. Poverty is not a moral failing—it is a policy failure. It is the result of deliberate political choices made to protect obscene wealth and punish ordinary people for daring to want dignity. We must continue to support those who run for office on platforms of economic justice—while rejecting those who prioritize a bloated military at the cost of starving children.

That is how we form a more perfect union.