Budgeting is not just about cutting but spending prudently
by Evan Wynn, 27 Jan 14
I read a joke today and it may help a lot of people to understand my view point.
“I am reminded of the town council that told the big-spending mayor he’d have to make do with a reduced budget. He replied, if you cut my budget, I’ll sell the fire engine.â€
The obvious solution is to get rid of the mayor and find one who will live within a budget by spending prudently.
I would say spending prudently is making sure we uphold our promises to veterans and not cut their benefits so that Congress & the President can spend more. Any politician that would sacrifice those Americans who are owed so much so they can continue wasting money through fraud, corruption and vote-buying, should be voted out of office.
Think about the song, 8th of November by Big & Rich. It is about an actual event that occurred on the 8th of November 1965. A small group of Americans from the 173rd Airborne Brigade were ambushed by over 1200 VC. 48 American soldiers lost their lives that day. But there were those who survived despite being severely wounded. One was Lawrence Joel, a medic, who was the first living black man since the Spanish-American War to receive the Medal of Honor another was Niles Harris, who retired after 25 years in the US Army.
Many of our politicians believe these men are over-compensated. They believe that it isn’t fair for someone like Niles Harris who served 25 years in the Army to be able to retire in their forties. They think it should be easy for them to start over in civilian life with a new job because so many American companies are hiring forty year old men with excellent skills in shooting, explosives, and hand-to-hand combat.
They want to cut their benefits. Why? Not because they want to cut the budget but to have more money to spend on equipment that the Pentagon doesn’t even want.
Many may feel that this is no big deal because we have too many people receiving government assistance. Many may feel they shouldn’t speak out about this because it may hurt Republicans from being elected.
But like the joke above, yes, we need to cut the budget but at the same time you don’t cut areas that are not only a necessity but also the right thing to do. One of the few Constitutional duties of the Federal Government is to provide for the common defense. So instead of starting the cuts there why don’t they start cutting areas where the Constitution says is not the duty of the Federal Government?
