When I posted my recent fact-based posting last week regarding the national debt I didn't get a single reply or argument which I hoped for. Going a bit deeper into why I wrote the first was to wake up a few people to the plight of the government, your government, and the improbable relationship politicians have with their constituents. To be very blunt, they don't tell the truth to you and me, the voter.
Let me cite for you just a few facts gleaned from a bit of research done. Fairly simple math is presented here. Federal money intake for 2013 was at $2.8 trillion. The outtake, money spent for the same year, was at $3.5 trillion.
The people we elect to represent us really don't do us all well. There is lots of talk about waste and duplication of services. There is, according to my research. For example there are 80 different means-testing for poverty programs. ACA over the next 10 years will add $1.8 trillion to the debt. Yes, the debt number discussed and quickly hidden is $17 trillion and the "bragging" of the reduction of the debt by $650 billion is heralded as noteworthy. Do you think so?
Before my friends that occupy the right wing of the political sphere clamor for impeachment of the current president we are cautioned. Bush ran up the national debt in half the time of ACA increases by waging wars in two theaters. Approximately one trillion there and one trillion here and we have a money issue/crisis in this country that will, folks, cause us great stress.
Where to cut government spending? Folks, it is not defense. That percentage has been reduced significantly. What then can be done to reduce this debt? One place to start is with the people hired to represent us and have them speak the truth for the first time. Raising taxes is a viable option and since so many of the very rich pay little or no this is a place ripe for picking.
Duplication of services is another. The salaries paid to our representatives is another. The question I ask myself, often, is are they doing what they are paid for? For those on welfare, food stamps and all the myriad programs of support for the poor, a new and enlightened look must be started. Does Head Start really work? If programs are means-tested are they effective?
Governor Walker of Wisconsin has a simple solution for welfare recipients. He wants to drug test them. Now, I was born a long time ago and have learned a few lessons along the way. His solution and that of so many in that the party that wants to punish know little about what is really like to be poor. Start getting yourself heard folks.
Robert Brooks