Congress continues to be the definition of dysfunction. They miss budget deadlines, rely on threats of government shutdowns to get things done, and recklessly spend taxpayer dollars without thinking. This is not a one-off situation, it is becoming a pattern.

An extraordinary spending bill was passed last week, the day before another partial government shutdown.

Considering the total national debt, Now over $100,000 Congress' focus on spending should be a top priority for every man, woman, and child in this country. Congress has not met its responsibility to pass all spending bills on time since the Clinton administration. (Related: Mike McKenna: Shocker — RINO Republicans support carbon tax)

Unfortunately, only a few dozen members of Congress appear to be concerned about unsustainable and inflationary deficit spending. A much larger group focuses on delivering taxpayer-funded benefits to selected special interest groups.

Here are three major issues with today's budget issues and solutions to address each.

Problem 1: Congress is struggling to complete budget and spending issues on time, leading to continued troubling resolutions and a possible shutdown of Congress.

Solution: While it may seem easy to blame this failure on partisanship or incompetence, the simple fact is that the U.S. federal government has swelled into an incomprehensibly large mass of bureaucracies and programs. about it.

Debating the appropriate amount of spending for core priorities like national defense and veterans benefits is already a daunting task. Negotiating funding for maple syrup grants, the African Development Foundation, Title X family planning programs, and thousands of other questionable items is another story entirely.

In addition, member offices and appropriations committees spend significant effort reviewing tens of thousands of appropriations applications. Pork project — and no wonder Congress has a hard time reaching an agreement. Streamlining the federal government would not only bring the budget closer to balance, it would also dramatically simplify the spending process.

Problem 2: Expenditure bills are compiled into “omnibus” packages spanning thousands of pages, and members are often required to vote with just a few hours’ notice.

Another part of the imbalance facing rank-and-file members is that the Congressional Budget Office's analysis of spending bills is available only to a small number of high-ranking offices. This allows appropriators and leaders to break budget rules while hiding that fact from the rest of the world.

Solution: Reducing the number of programs and agencies reduces the number of pages in your spending package. But that would not address the inherently broken nature of forcing lawmakers to vote on important legislation without sufficient time to properly evaluate it.

Congress requires at least one week's notice before voting on ordinary spending bills to allow for proper consideration and debate. Additionally, the bill's “score” should be made public like any other bill.

Problem 3: The federal government is on pace to run a $2 trillion budget deficit, an amount that is by all accounts unprecedented absent a major war or sharp recession.

But the spending bills that Congress fights each year account for less than a third of federal spending, and the rest is on autopilot.

The solution: The budget process needs to be more inclusive, and Congress needs to take a serious look at all spending and address (rather than ignore) dangerously high budget deficits.

Americans looking for a model of responsible governance should look to Switzerland. In 2003, Switzerland instituted a system to control overall spending levels based on business cycles, allowing some deficits during recessions and replenishing them during periods of growth. (Related: Darren Nelson: What it takes to actually solve America's debt problem)

As a result, their debt remains at a healthy level while Uncle Sam's debt skyrockets. Taxpayers should have no illusions that these solutions are easy, especially since they involve removing power and control from high-spending facilities.

The last time the US government did anything meaningful to reduce the deficit was because of pressure (and political influence) from the Tea Party movement. This country needs something like that again to stop the endless flow of red ink from drowning the economy.

David Ditch is a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation's Herman Center on the Federal Budget.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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