We’ve been going over our budget here recently. The realization that our incomes will be going down (due to any number of Obama stimulus related initiatives) and that the economy around here is so poor there’s a possibility that at least one of us may lose our job necessitates strict scrutiny of our expenses.
We’ve modified our behavior over the last several months – left-overs are required to be eaten, trips to the grocery store are focused on items on the list, we changed our phone carrier and modified our cable television plan. There’s more we can do, and will, that will be annoying; there is more we can do, and will, that will be painful.
So here we are. Regular citizens with full time jobs, a mortgage to pay, responsibilities to meet. The cost to us is rising – more fees, higher taxes, increased prices on goods is coming (especially with the lunacy of cap & trade) and we are having to tighten our belts along the way.
Personal responsibility is an inherent part of personal freedom. You cannot have one without the other…
Unless you’re in government.
A quick look at the stimulus plan shows that my state of Ohio has put dibs on $4,233,069,611 of stimulus dollars. That four billion. With a ‘B’.
And it’s for stuff like a $3 millon bike path in Columbus and $40,000 tennis courts in Cincinnati.
My little town has no stimulus requests in, but the urban center near me (Toledo) has $395,089,391 (that’s million) of requests in. $600,000 worth of bridge painting, $26,400,000 for public housing modernization, $4,500,000 for wheelchair ramps, $2.5 million for arena/stadium pedestrian malls.
While the value of these projects can be debated (I guess), the fact remains: the government cannot say no. The government thinks that your money, is their money. They are just letting you keep some of it and when they want it back, they come for it, regardless of it’s impact on you.
It’s time for the government to say no. It’s time for them to realize that they need to make the ‘sacrifices’ that they are continuing to tell us that we must make for the greater good. But not them. How difficult is it for us to say “Well, I’d like a new car but the old one is still running. Times are unstable and I’ll just have to put that new car (or TV or vacation or whatever) is going to have to wait.” We don’t like it, but it’s part of our personal responsibility.
What government official is saying, “Well, that bridge needs to be painted, but it can wait. I don’t want to add any more money to the federal budget than is absolutely necessary.”
It just doesn’t happen.
They are selling you, your future, and future generations down the river. And they don’t bat an eye. They want what they want – regardless of its’ impact on you or the country.
Tell your elected representatives – local, state and federal that it’s time for them to make sacrifices for the ‘greater good’. Tell them you are doing you’re part and you have little left. Tell them it’s time for them to do their part. Tell them they are required to take personal responsibility too.
By the way, the only state not to request stimulus funds? New Hampshire, the Live Free or Die state. No wonder there is a movement afoot to get people to move their.
Stimulus Watch
Free State Project
Breaking Point 