What to do? What to do?
It seems like our elected representatives can’t figure out how to handle “budget gone wild.” It seem painfully obvious to any of us who are out here having to foot the bill for their lack of insight or intestinal fortitude. I know, in my house, when the money runs out bills don’t get paid. When bills don’t get paid, we have to find other sources of income or savings to offset the costs i.e. pay the bills.
How easy it must be to simply tax an already burdened public with additional taxes. Not in my house. There’s only so much I and my wife can do to bring in more money, so the only way to balance the scales is by cutting down on “services” like television, Internet, cell phones, telephone and such like. We have to content ourselves with less than what we might like.
Not so in our Federal government. There it becomes a simple matter of making the masses pay more and more. Who cares that our government bills are so loaded with pork they make Smithfield Farms look like a bit player in the hog market? Certainly not the Senate or House of Representatives; it seems the only thing they are concerned about is carving 30 pounds of meat off a 10 pound turkey and when the bird runs out they turn to you and me.
So, with all that in mind, it seem funny to me that we would have a “super committee” made up of a bunch of these geniuses trying to come up with some way to save a measly $1.2 trillion over 10 years. Putting them in charge of such a thing is like having Jerry Sandusky running your local day care center. They have already wasted our money, how can we expect them to do anything that would be beneficial. Their idea was simply to increase taxes. Got a shortfall in the budget? Go to the source and find ways to scrape the public rind even finer.
Thanks but no thanks. The government for many years now has proved that they are incapable of making solid fiscal decisions. Part of what they are after wit this super committee is funding yet another of President Obama’s stimulus plans. Which when you think about it is sure to be at least as effective as the last stimulus. If the Super Committee really wants to help the country out, they ought to look at ways to stop spending.
In my budget, it’s very simple. Take a look at our spending. What are must haves? They go in a column on the left. What are “don’t needs?” They go in a column on the right. What are nice to haves? They go off to the side to be deliberated on once we figure out how the other changes will enhance (or not) our bottom line. The point being, without taking on more jobs, we have to assume our income level is going to be whatever it is. I don’t have the ability, or temerity, to tell my boss, ‘Hey, I need a raise!’ That would likely have a much different result than the one I want, and in fact could put me in even more dire straits.
The simple answer is to stop spending. You, the Federal government, already get enough of our money. By example, we are hounded by taxes far worse than our forefathers, who 11 score and 15 years ago dumped England over what by comparison would be trivial taxes. Their argument then, “No taxation without representation” could well be uttered now. Do you really think we are well represented by our current Federal politicos? I don’t think so.
Most of us know that when you don’t have any money, or when money is in short supply, things have to change. You cut down to one-pack a day or one six-pack a week. You make sure there’s enough milk to feed the baby, and enough money to pay rent, water and sewer, and the power bill. In short, you sacrifice to make ends meet.
But not our Congress; they simply try to find ways to get even more blood out of the stone. One of the proposals being bandied about is to cut down on exemptions for charitable donations. Right, like that might make a difference because it’s not technically a tax. But from my perspective, it will end up costing me more in my taxes. My donations to charitable organizations likely won’t change if they eliminate that deduction, but how much of my money goes to the government will. The real problem is that our stable is full of self-indulgent horses; they need to be turned out and replaced with new stock. True political reform starts with the voters, not with the elected officials.
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