The Problem with Government Spending

I was sitting in a small rural cafe one morning in 1984. The conversation turned to politics as usual. The problem is government spending and the primary culprits are women having babies and foreign aid; blah-blah-blah. I looked around the room and noted that all but three of us were collecting Social Security and we were farmers.

And so I said, "The problem with government spending is that everyone in this room is going to get a government check this year."

The youngest one jumped to his feet and invited me to continue this discussion in the parking lot.
I assumed my least threating body language and asked, "Did you sign up for the farm program?"

"Well yeah, but that's different!" he replied.

"I didn't say you don't deserve it or that it was a bad thing to do. All I said was; the problem with government spending is that everyone in this room is going to get a government check this year and that is the problem with government spending."

They changed the subject.

Twenty five years later an even larger proportion of the population is getting a government check. You need to review your sources of income before you self-righteously proclaim that you don't get government money. For example, I work for the airport and a significant part of our income is based on Federal Grants. So if that money were to disappear, a large number of jobs would disappear with it. Temporarily. At some point, the work would need to be done and the money would be found. Where does your employer get their money? Are they or the company that owns them dependent upon some government grant or business?

Have you drawn unemployment insurance, food stamps, reduced cost school lunches or breakfast?  It could be argued that earned income credit is an entitlement that contributes to massive government deficit.

I repeat, the problem with government spending is that too many people, including you and me, are getting money from the government. The President's announcement to freeze discretionary spending at the current elevated level does not solve the problem. You must reduce, cut, eliminate spending.

President Bush (41) belatedly came to the reduce spending idea at the end of his unsuccessful bid for reelection in 1992. He declared over and over; "The problem is entitlements". That is correct. Approximately 2/3 of Federal spending is on programs called entitlements. He never specified any particular entitlement spending that needed to be reduced; therefore I considered his pitch to be disingenuous. He was probably thinking about the programs that are commonly called welfare. In fact, the largest single entitlement program is Social Security. The second largest is Medicare. The third largest is Medicaid.

The current occupant (of the White House) seems to believe the best way to reduce spending on these entitlements is to control everyone's access to medical care and then use this control to ration care. Ultimately people will die prematurely thereby reducing the burden on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Full disclosure: I am 65 years old and I do NOT want the government to ration my access to health care. I do NOT subscribe to Medicare and will refuse it as long as I can. The Federal government foreclosed my retirement plan and the only pension that I have is Social Security. (Link)

There are a number of alternatives to the President's vision of our future; but you won't learn of them by reading the newspaper or watching the news on television. I learned of these alternatives by listening to talk radio and searching the internet. The following links will inform you of alternatives to spending the country into oblivion.

Wall Street Journal Rep. Paul Ryan, R-WI 'Prosperity Plan"

Taking Back our Fiscal Future (White Paper)

Doctors for Patient Care What doesn't work

Comparison of Republican vs. Democrat Health Care Plans

You are invited to share ideas you have discovered that will reduce government spending and intrusion.

A Fool's Game

A friend and I were talking politics over lunch the other day and he felt the governor was not trying hard enough to get Texas their share of federal funds. It is estimated that Texas only gets about 85 cents from every dollar that Texas residents send to Washington DC. I reminded him that it is impossible for everyone to get 100% because the Federal Government skims money off the top; in other words, for every dollar that goes to Washington only 90 cents comes back. The rest stays in Washington.

I told him that Congress does that intentionally so they can control us by making us fight with each other for a bigger batch of goodies. "It is only a fool's game," was my conclusion.

The Obama administration and the progressives in Congress are perfect examples of how we are all being played for suckers. For example:

The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) created $750 billion out of thin air to loan to banks. Then the treasury department used threats of audits to make all banks participate. The idea was the banks would borrow the money from the government and pay it back to the treasury with interest. Well, the banks are paying it back; but the money is not going to the treasury. It is going into a slush fund that the Obama administration can use to reward supporters without oversight from anybody.  (Link)

Senator Landrieu extorted $300 million to be spent exclusively in Louisianna in exchange for her vote for the Healthcare Jamdown. She is so shameless that she bragged about it on the floor of the Senate.

Senator Burriss of IL boasted that he wanted to cast the deciding vote on Obamacare when he was appointed to the US Senate last winter. In November the same Sen. Burriss started whining that maybe he wouldn't vote for it after all unless Illinois got some goodies. Apparently he got something, because he shut up the next day.

Senator Ben Nelson of NE held out until he got a $100 million deal on Medicaide plus a $6 billion tax break for insurance companies based in Nebraska. It was such a brazen shakedown that Governor Heineman condemned the Senator. Senator Nelson then dared the governor to turn down the money.

The Healthcare Jamdown will severely restrict the very popular Medicare Advantage program. Unless you live in Florida. So much for 'You can keep your old health insurance' lie; unless you move to Florida.

Sen Reid publicly stated "It is their own fault if the senators didn't get everything they wanted. I can't help it if they are not skilled negotiators."  He also called such bribes 'compromise'.

It makes me physically ill to see these shameless representatives deliberately get us to fighting with each other over money we don't have. They are intentionally stealing our freedom and destroying our children's future for their own personal power and comfort today.

I have always said the American people elect the people they deserve. Do we really deserve these immoral, unindicted felons? Is that who we really are? Are you willing to sell out all the other states for a few bucks today?

Are We, the People so bereft of integrity that we will do anything for a fast buck?

Have you noticed that each one of these elected persons pledges to uphold the Constitution of the United States? Then, before the smudge of their palm print on the Bible cools; they begin maneuvering for personal wealth and influence. I would bet money that most have never even read the constitution they pledged to uphold.

Pray for our country.