What's your priority for the US?

Published on March 3, 2009 By CharlesCS In Politics

It's obvious many of us here have a difference of opinion when it comes to what we think is a good way to spend tax payers money in the US. Infrastructure, financial assistance, security, etc; we can all agree than many of these things are necessary and that our differences lay in the way it's implemented and how much should be implemented. These kinds of discussions is what makes this country the greatest country in the world, a chance to debate you opinions and hope to have them applied.

But what we have today is not so much about arguing in favor of our choice in policies, but more about the wrong time for some policies. Now that the Democrats are in full control of the Gov't, many people believe that just about every Democrat dream may come true, that every idea they had in the past, any bill, any policy has a high probability of being passed. Had this been any other time, Republicans and Conservatives would be on their knee's, praying to God (figure of speech, not every Republican or Conservative believes in God) something happens to stop these policies because they go against their beliefs in how the Gov't should spend tax payers money and how far the Gov't should be involved in peoples lives. But today, many no only argue against many of the policies being passed by this Administration because their against these kinds of policies, but also because, obviously, this is not the time to be passing policies that require money we don't currently have. I believe it was Shawn Hannity that said "the current Administration isn't spending taxpayers money, it's spending money we don't even have" (more or less is what he said).

I can understand you wanting your Party to pass certain policies, legislation, bills, etc. But do you truly believe approving things that will simply put our economy in a deeper hole by adding to an already huge deficit, spending money we don't currently have, is the best way to run a Govt during a time when we should be focusing on the real priorities such as stabilizing our economy?

This isn't just about Republicans and/or Conservatives wanting to stop Democrats and Liberals from getting their way. It's about stopping unnecessary spending at a time when we should be "fiscally responsible", according to Obama's own words. Where is your fiscal responsibility?

Comments

watertown1978

on Mar 03, 2009

how about

cut the growth of gov... get people off the gov tetts.... and bam... instant savings

ReuelKB

on Mar 03, 2009

I'm of the opinion that if the government is going to be issuing debt to fund its actions, it should only do so with the intent of making a net profit.

For that reason, I have nothing against the government "spending money it doesn't have", just like I have nothing against a business getting a loan to help it grow. However, I believe that the government is borrowing money without much of a "business" plan to gain from it, but rather to build up more short term political capital or to promote some sense of convoluted sense of fairness.

Now, some of the stuff in this budget I believe are good (though things like infrastructure improvements should have been done anyways, recession or not), but lots of things seem like a misuse of funds especially at a time like this.

taltamir

on Mar 04, 2009

my priority is to stop penalizing productivity and rewarding parasitism. end all entitelement.

Note, that crippled veterans are neither "entitelment" nor parasitism and should be supported. And CERTAIN very specific disabilities should count too... but that support should be via government provided jobs with government paid for equipment...

AKA, a crippled person is gaurenteed a position, a ride, a wheelchair, etc paid for by the taxpayer, but he HAS to work to get money to buy stuff. This might be more expensive in some cases then simply paying them, but it staves off exploitation of the system

aeortar

on Mar 06, 2009

In a recession the standard economic prescription is for the government to increase spending (the only main difference between economists is then about whether increased government spending or tax cuts are the best way of doing that).

taltamir

on Mar 11, 2009

pork/welfare are neither tax cuts nor spending.

jdkeepsmiling

on Mar 11, 2009

Charles, thanks for then article. I believe that you are essentially right. As much as I do beleive that many of the policies being put into action are good ones, we may be overstrecing our bounds to pay for them. As an example, the stimulus package was a good idea, but it got out of hand. Mainly I blame congressional people for this, as Obama's initial proposal did not have any of the rediculous "pork" projects. in it. Infrastructure spending has one of the greatest ROI's of any kind of government spending. We really need to make sure that things like the TARP priogram and the money leant to the Automakes is repaid before we spend much on anyhting else. I also beleive that money saved from ending operations in Iraq should not be reallocated, is was a special circumstance expenditure, not regular opperating monies. The real key to any future stability is to get "entitlements" under control. Social security needs to be tackled big time, and no one for the past twenty years has stepped up to the plate on that one. If Obama took it on he would earn major points in mty bok becasue no one of either party has been willing to go near it. So for once we agree Charles, we need to stop the orgee of spending...even if I think the priorities are well placed.

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