Weekly Opinion Editorial
by Steve Fair
Speaker of the
House Nancy Pelosi, (D-CA), has scheduled a vote on Thursday on the Senate
passed bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill. The
bill passed the Senate by a vote of 69-30 last week. Nineteen (19) Republicans joined fifty (50) Democrats
to push the bill over the top. Both of
Oklahoma’s U.S. senators voted no.
President Biden claims the money will add 2 million jobs per year over
the next ten years. The money is
earmarked for roads/bridges, modernizing of public works, and boosting
broadband internet.
Pelosi is struggling
to get the votes necessary to get the bill passed. She delayed the floor vote to work on getting
some of the more moderate Democrats to vote for it. They wanted the much larger $3.5 trillion
relief bill passed first. It would pay
for new family, health and education programs, among other liberal priorities. Since March of 2020, over $7 trillion dollars
of tax dollars has been spent in the name of COVID. Three
observations:
First, the economic
response to the virus may economically kill the U.S. Spending we don’t have on programs we don’t
need will result in mortgaging our grandchildren’s future. Handing out money to
able bodied Americans to not work has resulted in a labor shortage for businesses
all over America. Employers hiring entry
level/minimum wage employees are struggling to find workers who will show up. Rewarding inactivity and nonproductivity is
never a good strategy.
Second, there is
just so much a government can borrow without raising interest rates and crowding
out private investment. Because of the
federal response to the pandemic, the national debt as a percentage of the Gross
Domestic Product is now over 100%. In
times of war and crisis, spending more than revenue may be necessary, but the
wild, crazy spending the government is doing is shortsighted and reckless.
Third, spending
tax dollars is a non-partisan activity.
It doesn’t seem to matter the political Party designation. Republicans spend at a lesser rate than
Democrats, but they still spend. ‘Bringing
home the bacon,’ or earmarks help keep incumbents in office. Taking credit for spending our money is what
most politicians do best. There doesn’t
seem to be the political will to cut spending and reduce government’s
footprint. President Reagan was right
when he said, “No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never
disappear. Actually, a government bureau
is the nearest thing to eternal lie we’ll ever see on this earth!”
2022 elections are coming up and candidates are emerging. When interacting with a candidate, don’t editorialize or present them with your opinion or solution on an issue. Ask them direct, concise questions and let them answer. Don’t tip them off as to how you want them to answer. Zig Zigler said, “Take time to be quiet.” It’s the voter’s job to vet candidates and you can’t do it talking- you have to listen. Until we get leadership with resolve, out of control government spending will continue and it will annihilate our country as we know it.
No comments:
Post a Comment