I was struck this morning by a news report on the record budget deficit: $482 billion. That’s about $4,800 per U.S. family or $1,500 per person. The report cited an administration official as saying that the deficit was being driven to an all-time high “by the sagging economy and the stimulus payments being made to 130 million households in an effort to keep the country from falling into a deep recession.”

Those things are on the list of causes, of course. But they’re not at the top. What’s at the top is spending. There’s no budget deficit without spending. Period.

Other sources had things to say about spending. An L.A. Times opinion piece said that the problem was the Iraq war: “. . . Bush and a compliant Congress launched an invasion of Iraq costing hundreds of billions of dollars and, rather than raise taxes to pay for it, continued to cut them.”

The New York Times reported on the presidential candidates’ comments. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) said: “There is no more striking reminder of the need to reverse the profligate spending that has characterized this administration’s fiscal policy.” A spokesman for Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) promised to “cut wasteful spending, close corporate tax loopholes and roll back tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, ‘while making health care affordable and putting a middle-class tax cut in the pocket of 95 percent of workers and their families.’” That’s a little too campaign brochure-y for me.

But really, the blame lies with people very close to you – friends of yours who don’t know, or don’t care to know, about the federal spending process.

Good citizen that you are – because you’re reading this blog – you know that Congress spends enough money each year to buy every U.S. family a new car. And you know that it’s up to you decide which of that spending is worth doing and which of it isn’t.

But your friends. They’re not so sharp. You really ought to get them involved. Every bill page on WashingtonWatch.com has a “tell-a-friend” link. It’s in the “Take Action” box. It opens up an email for you to send them.

Pick an annual spending bill. Pick a bill that costs a lot, or one that saves a lot. Tell your friends whether to support it or oppose it.

If you don’t, I’m going to start blaming you. When your budget is out of whack, you either go out and earn more, or you tighten your belt. This is the same process. Get on it.