In light of the much forewarned “Fiscal Cliff”. I feel the same way about it, as I did about the Mayan calendar. A lot of hype about absolutely nothing! I’m more torn up about the demise of Hostess. Now that the cliff has been averted, why do I feel like the guy who bought two pair of pants and a jacket then burned a hole in the jacket?
In the past four years what has our legislative leaders brought us? The Congressional budget office just reported that the new deal will add 4 trillion dollars in new debt over the next decade. News reports tout that the new 151-page bill was given to Senators a mere 3 minutes before the call to vote was given. Three minutes? Who can read anything in three minutes unless it comes with souvenir crayons?
How many more times must we see the passage of a prodigious bill with the caveat, “We have to pass the thing to know what’s in it?” Now two months after the election, my faith in electing an honest and hardworking congress is hanging in there like a hair in a biscuit.
This congress is best personified by a story that happened to my family. My parents were assisting a young married couple who were experiencing financial difficulties. My parents helped this poor couple who had sought their advice in tears. My mother sat down with them, helped them prioritize their bills and wrote a check to them to pay those bills.
The following week when they weren’t in church, my parents inquired where they were. Friends promptly said the couple had gone on vacation; the bills remained unpaid. To say my parents were annoyed was an understatement. Angry is more like it. I felt the same way with the Fiscal Cliff bill.
Recently it was revealed that 46 cents of every dollar borrowed by our government is interest. I’d say they’re spending money like a drunken sailor, but then I’d have to apologize to the sailor for slandering him. This profligate spending is far worse. The new Fiscal Cliff bill (according to the Senate Budget Office) has for every $42 dollars of new taxes (revenue) , only $1 will go toward deficit reduction. This represents a ratio of 42:1.
I have no party affiliation. But this year, all I want is my government to stop spending money like Paris Hilton at Macy’s.
I’m bewildered, we live in a new time. If I desire accountability of my legislators in the budget battle, I’m accused of being cold hearted. Am I being dramatic? Consider this recent expenditure. The National Institute of Health spent $939,771 on research that discovered the love preferences of male fruit flies. It found they are more attracted to younger female fruit flies. Go figure, that never happens in any other species. Worse yet, If You want fiscal accountability and desire a few entitlements or expenditures scaled back, to keep you quiet, the opposition labels you a racist.
I have friends on both sides of the aisle, and while I can’t get them to agree on much, I’m pretty sure I can get them to agree we don’t want national bankruptcy. If that happens, Lord help us. We’re going to see people acting like it’s Black Friday everyday until the celestial calendar comes to it’s frightful conclusion. If we are on a fiscal cliff like the press is telling us, why do I have to be in line with all the other lemmings? I’ve tried to stop this march, but no one’s listening. I guess it’s because no one listens to cold hearted, mean-spirited budget racists. Would it help my cause if I said I gladly want to be in the black?
Enthusiasm is Contagious 