Observing the various levels of government at work never ceases to amaze me. No one could argue that government at every level needs to scrutinize where it spends the tax dollars that it receives from the citizenry.
A case in point - Auburn, Maine, is planning to spend two hundred thousand dollars to purchase and provide I-Pads to students. The thing that I find astounding is the grade level of the students...High School? Nope, not High School! Middle School, then? Nope, wrong again! Kindergarten! That's right folks, instead of crayons and finger paint Auburn, Maine, kindergarteners will get I-Pads. Is this a good idea? Maybe, I doubt it though! Is it a reasonable use of tax dollars. In my humble opinion, I don't think so! In these difficult economic times, I fail to see where such an expenditure is necessary or a priority expenditure.
A second case in point - Recently, the U.S. Government was almost forced to shut down because the two houses of Congress could not agree on a spending plan! The Republicans in the House wanted to cut spending some 35 billion dollars or so, out of a budget of over trillions of dollars. The Democrats argued, with a straight face, that these cuts were too draconian.
A third case in point - There is an open federal government job for a person to maintain a government Facebook page. Are you freaking kidding me? But, that's not the worse of it! The salary for the position is over a hundred thousand dollars per year. That's right, a six-figure income to maintain a Facebook page. With over a trillion dollars in projected deficits this year alone, does that seem like a reasonable use of tax dollars? I don't think so!
What is really infuriating is all the political posturing that occurs when spending cuts are discussed. One side predicts all manner of gloom and doom such as children and senior citizens will starve, women will no longer have access to health care, the military won't receive their pay checks, and the arrival of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Then you find out that the amount of the projected cuts in dispute amount to less than two percent. That would be like the average family cutting the expense of a pack of chewing gum from their budget. Ridiculous right! Hardly a draconian reduction!
It seems to me that the American people spoke loud and clear at the mid-term election last November and demanded that the government cut spending, lower taxes and live within its means. This message was sent to the government at the Federal, State and the local levels pretty much nationwide. Yet, most of what I read indicates that they were not listening!
Anybody with a nodding acquaintance of the laws of economics knows that the current level of government spending is not sustainable. It is equally clear that if drastic measures are not taken soon then an economic armageddon is sure to follow.
Our nation's leaders are not stupid, uneducated, people. So why do some of them continue to advocate for the same worn out proposals that have failed when tried in the past. The definition of insanity is the doing of the same thing over and over expecting different results. Sounds a lot like how government, at all levels, operate today.
Am I wrong? If I am, how so? What do you think?
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