BUDGET TALK
If the founding father's of our nation had thought seriously about how much it was going to cost to maintain such a government, they may have had some second thoughts about certain portions of it.
The fantastic amounts of money now used in common conversation by our political leaders would have shocked the originators no end, I dare say.
I heard a voice on a talking head on C-Span the other day. The bottom line ident faded away before I got a good look at it, so I don't know who he was – a younger man – who observed,well beyond his years, I felt, that the main difficulty with our government costs today is not taxes ...cut or increased. It is less concerned with income at all but, rather with excessive, senseless and unnecessary spending.
The early leaders of our nation were not totally ignorant of that which today we called “pork” in the budget they set forth showing how much it would cost to run the government for a set fiscal period. Any such effort to pad the budget to take care of certain personal wants, desires and hopes of promising supporters would seem petty today.
I have notice it always seems to be the young politicians who speak of doing away with the back-scratching scheme but they lose interest in such plans after a few years go by. They vote, right along with timers and become aware of the values of such a non-conformist series of actions. It is not the politician who is to blame for the excessive abuse in this area; it is not the Congress-person,either. It is the voters at home who cause it to prosper. The politician is led to believe from real life experiences that the pork barrel route is the main road to take if one wants to get re-elected. Common sense tells you that you don't ignore or be too critical of that which has helped you get where you are. It must not be eliminated after it has proved to be so valuable, nor can it be curbed or led around on a leash, and it might even be wise enlarge it and to make it all a bit more by hiring some older writers in the for the Public Relation section. We,
you see, are the very ones who have profited most from the pols willingness to play the game.
Any chances of reform? I rather doubt it. Too many of us have a very real stake in the procedure remaining intact and active.
A.L.M. January 7, 2005 [c442wds]
