# Government spending - why can't they just balance the budget?

An episode of [Why Can't They Just...](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1818980418), 12 May 2026, 49 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/105531ab4/podcast/play/119850481/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-4-12%2Fc975fe9a-9364-3bbe-3884-6cd15dda1db2.mp3

Janaline, Glenn and Luke go through the major spending items in the budget and discuss the question of why governments can't just balance their budgets and why do we need all this spending anyway? Here's a transcript. Please leave a comment, particularly if you have your own "Why can't they just..." question, or email us at whycanttheyjust@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you. Please also feel free to rate and review us, as it does help people to find us. Music:"Insurrection" Written by Pierre Chrétien Performed by the Soul Jazz Orchestra Courtesy of Do Right Music Inc.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.