It is a common charge that spending cuts in programs for the poor pay for tax cuts for the rich. The numbers, however, do not support this claim.

“[The] people with the highest incomes are paying more of the tax burden while the poor are receiving more of the spending,” Brian Riedl writes. Indeed, antipoverty spending in 2004 grew to a record 16.3 percent of all federal spending.

With the cost of entitlement programs set to skyrocket, it’s time to set aside the rhetoric and examine honestly America’s fiscal outlook.

“Given the long-term spending challenges America faces, it is time to analyze realistically which areas of federal spending are increasing, what the legitimate functions of the federal government are, and what is ultimately affordable,” Riedl writes.

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Read The Myth of Spending Cuts for the Poor, Tax Cuts for the Rich by Brian Riedl

Follow the logic, if you can: The federal government is running deficits. The states are enjoying surpluses. And -- the federal government is shelling out billions to the states.

Hardly makes sense, yet that's exactly what's happening.

Imagine, for a moment, you’re back in 2000. A visitor from the present day arrives and tells you that Washington is spending almost $22,000 per household, the most since World War II and one third higher than it was in 2001. Your reaction?

If you’re like most conservatives, you’d probably say, “I guess the liberals won.”