sporadic posts, some considered

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Government Past Due

I happened across “Susan's Musings” (www.rabbidaniellapin.com/dynpage.php?id=5). Her following musing under the heading “More Money, Please” caught my attention,

“- - -“

“It is time for Congress to take lessons in household management. Mothers understand that you don't bring a pet into the house without completely thrashing out the details of taking care of the pet and paying for its upkeep. You also assume that there will be unexpected expenses. Similarly, it is ludicrous to pass a law while ignoring the funding and infrastructure needed to implement it.

“Most importantly, we citizens must switch from a mindset that expects our government to do things based on whether they sound like good ideas and indeed may be good ideas. As a mother, I may have thought that my child would profit from music lessons and art lessons and computer classes and karate, etc., etc., etc. How much these programs could assist my child's future success in life was irrelevant. We still could only spend the money we had. Choosing to do one thing meant choosing not to do something else, no matter how valuable or desired.

“Funding for VA hospitals is in a different category than spinal injury research because we already have a commitment to those who serve us. But we need an entirely new way of looking at the government budget. Pruning here and there isn't going to work. Right now the attempts at budget cutting in Congress are the equivalent of a financially stressed household saying, “Well, when Tommy goes to summer camp, we'll send $15 less in spending money than we did last year.” Guess what? In real life, not only does he not go to summer camp, but that is only the first of the sacrifices made. It's time for real people who are becoming increasingly aware of what serious budgeting means to send a message that we wish no less from our government, even as we work to support our men and women in uniform.”

Enough said. It is past time to pull Government out of “Wonderland” and plant it securely in reality!